As I’ve sat with family and friends over the last few days and reminisced I know that my Popo will be remembered well. In a long life lived well there are all sorts of memories.
You might remember Chink as a dependable mailman.
When he delivered the mail for over 40 years the mail was delivered right. Even in snowstorms there were very few days the mail didn’t go out.Those on his route appreciated him by leaving special treats in their mailboxes for him at Christmas time.
You might remember Chink as a man of hobbies.
He loved to hunt. He loved to bowl. He loved to fish. Way back in the day even hand fishing in Bear Creak. And then fish fries with Dorothy’s potato salad. Later in his life he loved to trap shoot. And he was good at it! Momo remembers he won at least 3 guns. He also loved sports. Sports were on the tv often. He enjoyed going to see his family’s sporting events throughout the years. He also loved to play cards. Over the years many hands of “pitch” were played but inevitably Popo and Wayne would shoot the moon on Momo and Dot and end up winning.
Chances are you might remember a funny story about Chink.
One of his favorites to tell was about Momo was when the tractor was on fire. He was hollering and she thought he said, “Hit the dirt!” So there she was on the ground. But he had been yelling, “Throw dirt!” But Momo has her own story to laugh at Popo. She remembers the time he went to the cemetery as a pall bearer in the rain and grabbed her rain jacket instead of his. Apparently he was quite the site!
You might remember Chink as the only “Popo” you knew.
As a grandfather he left many memories for his grandchildren. Spending the night at Popo and Momo’s house was the best. Getting to help deliver the mail, slow bike rides in the country, helping reload shells in the basement, going on the river in the boat to fish, teaching the boys how to hunt and handle a gun right, doing chores together, watching Tom & Jerry after school, and eating popcorn.
You might remember Chink as a man of service.
He was faithful to serve his church. If the doors were open he and his family were there. Years ago in the old church basement helping make 100’s of gallons of ice cream to raise funds for the church. Over the years he served as a deacon, an elder, chairman of the board, and even the Sunday School secretary. (Or as us kids remember it, the bell ringer.) Many communion table prayers always began with, “Gracious heavenly father.”
When I remember him I think of gum on his glass, I think of getting quiet when the phone rang, I think of a dog in his lap, and his silver Bible case with the cross. I think about the daily mealtime prayer, “God again we bow our head and thank you for our daily bread. Amen.” And I can’t remember Popo & Momo’s house without Popo’s chair. It was an establishment. With his mail, cattle magazines, the tv remote, and a stash of cookies he often shared.
He left a lifetime of wonderful memories.
But that is not the most precious thing he left us. He left us a legacy.
Webster defines legacy as something handed down from an ancestor. What has Owen Rowland handed down to us?
I would say more than anything he has handed down his faith in Jesus Christ.
I will never forget the first Christmas Eve my husband Jeremy spent with me. We were engaged and we’d been talking a lot about our future marriage and what legacy we wanted to start for our future family. When we got in the car he looked at me and said, “That is what I want our legacy to be.” I want to be Pop-o and Mom-o. Someday I want to be serving communion to our entire family. I want to be surrounded by children and grandchildren who know and love the Lord.
Chink was a man who loved the Lord and lived what he believed. He was the same on Sunday as he was the rest of the week. He faithfully read his Bible, served his church, and taught Biblical principles in his home.
This past Christmas Eve God gave us a special gift. Popo was once again able to attend Christmas Eve service. He was able to greet old friends and see many of his church family he had been missing. And my daughter Grace (Popo’s great granddaughter) was able to take communion with our family for the first time as a new Christian.
To me communion on Christmas Eve will always be a picture of Popo’s legacy. His faith lived out in us his family. When we asked Mom-o what the one thing she and Pop-o wanted for their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren it was that we know the Lord.
The lyrics from this song entitled, “Legacy” seem so fitting.
I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthly list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy
I want to leave a legacy, how will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to you enough
To make a mark on things? I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who blessed your name
Unapologetically and leave that kind of legacy
Not well traveled, not well read
Not well-to-do or well bred
I just want to hear instead
"Well done good and faithful one"
Popo was a man who loved, who pointed to Christ, and who unapologetically left a legacy of faith. I have no doubt he has heard those precious words, “Well done good and faithful one.”
May it someday be said of us as well.
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