Hershbine Family: Pawpaw Nolen

As I mentioned in the last post, I lost my other grandfather, "Pawpaw Nolen" earlier this month. I just thought that I would pay a little tribute to him and his life here. His death, for me, was difficult but comforting. You see, he was 94, and had lived a very long and full life. I had a moment the other day, that was very sad. Just the thought of not hearing his silly little laugh (he found himself very funny!) again was very sad. I starting thinking about all of the things about him that makes me who I am. Pawpaw always had very strong family values. He was an only child in a time that it was very uncommon to only have one child. He loved his parents. I never met his dad (he passed away when my dad was 9, and was the only grandfather that my dad knew... Papa Nolen ) His mother, "Mama" or "Granny Haley" (what I called her) lived to be almost 104 years old, and Pawpaw took care of her the last 33 years. My dad has said before that he remembers that it was always his dad who was the nurturer and telling everyone how much he loves them. When Pawpaw and Granny married, they took turns with Granny's sister taking care of Granny's mother, Mama Peek, and having her live alternately with them. She passed away in 1967, and soon after, Granny Haley moved into the one room apartment that Pawpaw had built for her behind their house. And when he had to make the difficult decision to put her in a nursing home, I am not sure he missed a day of visiting her there. When Granny Haley passed away in 1991, he then focused his caregiving on his wife, Granny Mary. Although at that point she was in pretty good health, he was still her caregiver. As Granny Mary's health deteriorated over the next several years (Parkinson's Disease) he continued caring for her, lifting her, feeding her, and loving her. He eventually again had to make the difficult decision to put her in the nursing home... and again, I dont think that there was a day that he was not there to visit with her. I know at this point that he really became lonely. Granny had gotten to the point that she was not communicating very much, and he missed her being at home. After she passed away in 2001, he was very sad... He had spent his life taking care of others before himself, and now he had to take care of himself! He did just that for several years... playing dominoes, going to Church, and going to Jack's to meet with the other ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out). And although his physical health was relatively good, his mental health began to deteriorate. And this past summer my dad and aunt, then had to make the same difficult decision that my grandfather had made several times before, of putting him in the nursing home. There are so many stories that I could tell about Pawpaw, and his inherent love for all, but I believe that the life he led tells his story best. He and my Granny Mary, were constant givers, and carers. They together raised us all to make wise decisions and try to do to help others to the best of our abilities. I will miss both of them very much for the rest of my life, but I know that they are both some place together Granny fussing at Pawpaw for acting silly about something... and his sweet silly laugh that I hopefully can remember forever.

Some of my favorite memories and things of Pawpaw:

breakfast by pawpaw when I would spend the night
always wash your hands before a meal
trips to "the country"
trip to Savannah
pictures every Easter (cant put on your play clothes until pictures were made)
naps on the front porch
naps
more naps (pawpaw could fall asleep at the drop of a hat)
clean feet before I went to bed
stories, stories and more stories (sometimes the same ones over and over :) )
He always said he loved me and I always knew it.... even if he did not love me as much as Grayben :)

I love and miss you Pawpaw

Pawpaw (right) age 2 or 3