While Popo did not actually leave us in 2010, he was the first of our grandparents to pass away in December of 2009. Popo was a man who had a profound impact on the world. From the moment I met him, I liked him. He did everything he could to make me feel welcome in his home. I would enjoy our journeys to Ohio, knowing Emilie and I were going to stay at his house. I waited for him to show me slides and tell me stories about his carpet business and his travels around the world. I remember seeing the Rock of Gibraltar in one of his pictures, and his eyes lit up when I asked him about it. I also remember sneaking away to the East of Chicago Pizza buffet before he got his feeding tube, and him telling us not to tell Mimi about it. What wonderful memories.
He was a great husband, father and grandfather, but so are many men. What made Popo a man who changed the word? From the first moments I met him, I knew this man loved missions. He talked about missions conventions he had traveled to, and his trips to Haiti. This wasn't a man who just talked about missions, but he lived it. He supported it with his money, his time, his heart. He didn't talk about helping people in Haiti, he did it. It cost him something. Popo didn't dream about being able to impact the world someday, he did it. Opening his home to a young Haitian pastor while he went to bible college was evidence of the character and obedience to calling that Popo lived and taught all of us. Popo changed the world around him.
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