My PawPaw...

Today would have been my PawPaw's 82nd birthday, if he was still here on earth with us.  He passed away in October of 2006 and I miss him more than words can describe.  I must admit that I had him wrapped around my little finger since the day I was born! I was his Mandy Girl!

I am the only girl and wow did he treat me that way!  He loved to see me pissed off (not in the bad way of course)-it's more like he got a kick out of it to see me squirm and to see my attitude come out especially as a young girl...he thought it was hilarious! :0  I remember as a child we would go to the grocery store and drop my grandmother off at the door to run inside and pick up a few things and never fails, he would always pretend to drive off and leave her and it would make me so upset that I would scream at the top of my lungs.  He would just laugh and laugh as he pulled back up to the door to pick her up! :)

He was always a die hard Bama fan...until, that is, his Mandy girl went to Auburn...it was all over. After I brought him back an AU hat my first semester, he never took it off again! From then on it was everything Auburn until his dying day...why? Because it was what I loved and what meant so much to me, therefore it meant everything to him.  He def loved the women in his life-me, my mom (his daughter) and my grandmere(his wife of 56 years) were his world and he wasn't ever afraid to admit it!  The men in our lives were ok too, but nothing compared to his women. :) j/k

I learned so much from him-probably more than I am even aware of...but some of my favorite memories of him are his little quotes and quips and as we so lovingly refer to them as "Fred-isms".  He def had his own way of doing things, whether they made the most sense to everyone else or not. :)  He was the smartest man I have ever known and one of the most respected men, both professionally and socially that I have ever known.

We miss him every day that he is not here with us and it saddens me more than I can even describe that my children will not grow up to know this amazing, loving man the way that I grew up knowing and loving him! :)

Happy Birthday PawPaw!