The greatest man none of you will ever know, my poppa, will pass away any minute.

Fair warning, this is rambles a bit, and there are grammatical and spelling inconsistencies, but I need to get this out through the tears.

In less than 1 week my grandfather went from looking like he had a few years left, to likely passing away before midnight tonight. A combination of Alzheimer's and kidney failure had slowed him down, but then last week he broke his pelvis, and it basically killed him in a week.

I want him to have peace, his pain to end, and the confusion from Alzheimer's to end. But I'm also not ready for it. In many ways my pop has been gone for years because of the Alzheimer's, but it hurts beyond belief that he won't be in his rocking chair when I walk in the door, ready to head to the farm in his truck, or take me for a ride on the tractor, or scratch my back, or make ice cream goolash....you get the idea. I have a lot of amazing memories with this man, and he shaped me less than I would have liked, but also more than I could ever quantify.

He is an amazing man, loving, kind, and humble. But also steadfast, self sufficient, loyal, and more dependable than the sunrise. Smarter than he would ever admit to, and more gracious and generous than he would admit to either. Never took an ounce of credit for an amazing life, just attributed it to God's blessing and hard work.

He started off life as the son of a share cropper, who had to do farm work before and after school. Had to do homework by candle light after all the chores were done. Senior year of highschool he even drove the school buses while doing all of that too. Had to go refuel all of buses during his lunch as well.

After high school, he got a job sweeping floors as a warehouse clerk at the Talladega, AL location, of what was the world's second largest conglomerate at that time. After less than 15 years, he had worked his way up to the position of VP for all United States operations. Quit there when he realized the company was going under, and he couldn't get a hand on the wheel to steer the doomed ship clear. And started his own business with my uncle. All they had in the beginning was $10,000 in cash, and within 5 years they were pulling in over $5,000,000 in revenue, without ever borrowing a single dime of capital. In an industry where single pieces of equipment sell for over $1,000,000 brand new, they never had to borrow a dime. I've always been astounded by that. Yes, Clients from his previous job sought him out, but he never tried to steal customers, they followed him because of his reputation and because of who he was as a man.

He entered into this world during the great depression, the son of a southern share cropper in, and as he passes away in front me, he is worth more than $40,000,000.

But the relationships he built were worth far more than anything else, he spent today surrounded by dozens of his family and friends. He was honestly loved by all who had the honor of knowing him.

He truly worked for, and lived, the American dream. In every way.

Thank you for reading about the greatest man you will never know, my hero, Poppa.