Tipper and Pap – 9/11 Ceremony 2015
I’m not sure why Pap’s death anniversary has hit me so hard this year. Today marks six years that he’s been gone from this world.
It might be that Chatter’s recent marriage, although happy on all sides, has made me realize I’ve entered a different phase of life. Or maybe it’s the unrest in the world. Pap was my go to person when it came to pondering the ways of the world and seeking wisdom.
Many of you who’ve been reading Blind Pig and the Acorn for a good long time have told me you felt a great loss when Pap died too. His stories, experiences, and music showed up weekly on Blind Pig & The Acorn when he was still living.
Here’s a list of posts about Pap from the archives. If you’re a new subscriber they might be interesting to you, and if you’re an old subscriber you might enjoy revisiting them as I have over the last few days.
- Going to the Cornfield with Pap
- Shooting Contests in Appalachia
- Love Jerry
- I Twice Belong to Thee
- I Walk in Silence When it Comes
- Gathering Shocks of Fodder
- Pap’s Birthday
- Yellow Flowers and Yellow Throats
- The Day Pap Died
- September 2, 1945
- When Pap was a Boy
- Pap and the Big Rock
- Jerry Marshall Wilson 1937-2016
- The Rolling Store Took Squirrels Too
- Pap Visits the Dockerys
- Making Marbles out of Rocks
- The Pear Trees
You can also visit the Blind Pig and The Acorn YoutTube Channel to hear some of Pap’s amazing harmony singing.
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Tipper, I know it’s hard. Your Daddy was a wonderful man. My Mama passed on the same year as Pap, in October. She lived to be 94, and in relatively good. I’m blessed she passed on without suffering. My Daddy has been gone 48 years. He was only 54 when he died of cancer. I still miss him, because I know he and my husband would have gotten along just fine. I lost my brother and only sibling to cancer 11 years ago, and he was only 52. Cancer runs on my Daddy’s side of the family. I think about them every day.
This coming May 4th will be 48 years since Daddy left us. almost half a century! It took me this far up into the night to just get this far. Some day I might be able to put together words to express my feelings about him. I will say though, those who are unfortunate enough not to have met him have been deprived.
Some day I will get to meet Pap, shake his hand and tell him what a fine job he did raising his family. Some day you will get to meet my Daddy and you’ll immediately know why I feel the way I do about him.
Tipper, I’ve been missing my Daddy a lot to lately. I think the older we get the more we appreciate the people and things we still have and those we’ve lost. I’m sending lots of love, hugs, and prayers your way. I think of the old hymn, “I’ve never been this homesick before”. It’s just about HOME time, and then we’ll never have to say goodbye again. 🙂
I truly understand your feelings today of grief & loss for your precious Dad. My son was killed in a car accident 11 yrs ago this week, and I still go down to my knees on the anniversaries of his death. I also lost 2 small grandchildren due to the wreck. When I grieve & sob over the 3 precious lives I lost & ask why, I try to remember that God also lost his son to a cruel death. And, as Jesus was raised from the dead to rejoin his Father so it will be with me & my son some day. That helps me! You & Pap will be reunited, too although we are impatient & want to see them now. I have people who tell me I should be over my son’s death by now & I tell them the only way I would be “over it” is if my son walked through my front door & gave me a big bear hug like he used to do. I want you to know I have thought of you all day & the pain you are going through today. Please know that my thoughts & prayers are for you to get through this trying time. You and your family are loved & cherish by so many people….. folks you have never met but follow your blogs & videos religiously. You can feel proud that you & Matt have raised 2 beautiful, awesome daughters which gives credit to your fine character. My warm thoughts & prayers are sent your way.
Cheryl-Thank you for your kind words! My heart goes out to you for your loss which was so much worse than Pap’s passing. I do miss Pap but he had lived a good life and was ready to go home. He even got to go out like he wanted to at home. I just can’t fathom the loss you’ve had to endure. I’m so very sorry. I will be praying for you. It wouldn’t matter if it had been 50 years since the accident, a hurt like that will never be gone from you!!
Hi Tipper,
I enjoyed this blog. I lost my dad the same year. Thankfully we do meet again. Do you have a photo of your grandpa that was the preacher? I had many relatives that wore overhauls.
I really like your gardening videos and your food videos. I went online and bought seed – it was something that you really liked. Anyway, I lost the seeds. You have much impact- probably more than you realize.
When are you all coming back to Blairsville Courthouse?
Darrell-thank you! I hope you find the seeds 🙂 I’m not sure when will be back at the courthouse but hopefully soon 🙂
God bless and guide you today.
These days of remembrance are to help us share our family and friends on special thing of our Love ones. I send and hug and prayers as you walk through this day. He just Risen and you will see him again.
Somehow many of us feel all is right with the world when we have our dad. there was such a strength there, and I could always count on my dad for the most surprisingly best advice. He had a place of wisdom and experience to make his decisions from. Again, my Mom then left about three months after Pap. I felt like an orphan even though I was not young, and it has since given me a lot of empathy for those who lose parents young. they kept raising my sibling and me with good advice and many words of caution. Those men of that “great generation” were so very special.
Mom taught me that the Lord did not design us to grieve forever, and I am still amazed at how much I enjoy life. He truly did not design us to grieve forever, but it is still very difficult when those anniversaries roll around. I will forever miss riding around with my Dad in his old Farm Use 4WD truck checking out the chinquapin and chestnut trees. July is always a bit hard, as it is the month I lost Mom, Dad, and my younger sister at different years. Thank goodness they taught me so much to soften this such as garden planting and spoiling grandkids. Just when you feel overcome by life’s happenings. grandchildren give you another special feeling that is like no other. Grandchildren renew and invigorate you as another very special part of life, and I feel so very blessed to have mine.
Beautiful! My favorite is “Love, Jerry.” He was just as kind and considerate and
thoughtful then as he was when I first “met” him on Blind Pig & The Acorn.
I lost my Dad 25 years ago and my Mama 16 years ago. Both passed in March and I can tell you there is not a day that I don’t think of them. I know they are with the Lord and I wouldn’t want them back in the shape they were in . Tipper, I also went to my Dad for advice and oh how I miss our talks. Pap reminds me so much of my own Dad. I am so blessed to have been brought up in a Christian home as you and your brothers were. I’ll keep you in my prayers.
Your daddy was and is an inspiration and comfort for all of your Blind Pig friends. It is precious to me to be able to share so much of you and your family’s lives–both sad & happy. As the daughter of a troubled and dangerous man who cannot truly mourn her father it helps me to hear about Pap.
I did not know “Pap” but he reminds me so much of both my Grandpa’s. Both have been gone for years now (1988 + 1989) There are times I wish so much I could talk to them one more time, but I have HOPE of seeing them again one day in Heaven. That will be a glorious day where we will meet to part no more. While I have special family and friends that have gone on, I most want to see Jesus, the one that bled and died on the Old Rugged Cross for my sins. The Bible says he’s gone to prepare us a place and I believe he has just about finished rhe last place. I’m saying I believe he could return any day. The Bible also tells us to Watch….I want to say,
if your not ready/saved please read Romans Chapter 10 V9
Loss is so hard. Our only lasting comfort comes from Jesus. I know that is true for me and I know He has brought me to today after losing my Mother 8 years ago.
Our memories are such a source of comfort. I know all the many video and audio recordings of Pap singing are so priceless.
A beautiful mountain walk sounds like a great plan for today. I know how important that is to you as you have mentioned it on several of your vlog posts.
I think the reason its hitting you so hard is exactly like you said, Corie getting married and moving away and so much unrest these days. Maybe it’s a yearning to just sit with him and be comforted, to just be in his presence physically but knowing that isn’t possible, yet his presence is with you and also in you. I have not been a BP&A or Celebrating Appalachia subscriber for a real long time but I feel like I know Pap through your writings and this post brought tears to my eyes. I will be praying for you to be comforted on this anniversary date.
Some dates are etched into our minds, and we never forget them. I know we aren’t supposed to continually grieve because we have the promise of seeing our loved ones again. I’m confident I’ll see my loved ones again and I will come to know your Pap.
If a person’s legacy are wise words and wonderful memories, then you and your family are blessed beyond measure. Thank you for sharing with those of us who read Blind Pig and The Acorn.
I think of your Dad pretty much everyday. He was always an example to me to be the Child of God I should be. He still is. His music touches my heart and mind like none other. When I read, or even just recall an old blog posts about your Dad as I go about my day, I remember the thoughts and feelings I felt when I read them years ago. Ever since I began reading your blog fourteen years ago, whenever I was not being all I should be for God, I would think “would Mr. Wilson be proud of me at this moment if I was one of his kids?” Your Dad touched many lives, and he still does. He very definitely touched mine across the miles that separated our living spaces. I truly believe he served the purpose God made for him to do in this earthly life. You kids, and his grandkids, are a terrific reflection of his love for God and family. There really is not a day that I don’t think of a song he has written or sang, or the bits and pieces of his life you have shared with us. Your dad has always been like an extension of my own dad – a second dad to me, if you will. And even though I never got the chance to meet him here on earth, I know I will in Heaven. I have not lost my Dad, yet, but I know it will happen, and I know I will never ever be prepared for that day. I am thankful for an earthly father who knows the Lord personally, because I know I will have him for eternity when I go Home someday, too. I also know, nothing will ever take his place, or fill the terribly empty spot that he will leave when he is gone, while I am still on earth myself. I dread the day of his going. You missing your Dad as you do, is a strong testimony of the wonderful relationship you have with him. And I did say the word “have” on purpose. Your love and respect for your dad has not changed since he left this earth. Remember how Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died in John 11? He missed the person He loved that had been a close friend -even though He was God in flesh and knew He was going to raise Him from the dead in a matter of minutes – He still wept. So even though you know beyond anything that one day you will have all of eternity to be with your Dad again – you still love and miss him in the here and now. It is ok. You have been in my prayers and thoughts, Tipper. I wish there truly was something I could do or say to help you with this aching you are going through. Just know you are loved and covered in prayer.
Donna. : )
It’s hard to believe it’s been six years. How time flies! Pap reminded me of my daddy in so many ways that I can’t help missing him, too.
It’s been 24 years since my dad died and it still will hit hard sometimes. Our grief becomes a part of us but I think it makes us stronger and more resolved. Maybe, just maybe … having one daughter married now is making things a little harder.
Tipper, I will be praying for you and the other family members. I have told you this before but I will tell you again, Pap reminds me so much of my father in law. He passed away on July 7, 2013 and my father on Jan.20, 1991. Those two men meant the world to me.
Not trying to take anything away from Tipper, but I feel like so many on the blog are friends, I want to ask everyone to pray for me and our family, my wife passed away 1 year ago on April 15, 2021 and her funeral was on April 20, 2021 at 11 am. This all I can think about.
Randy,
I agree, we are all friends who comment on here and I will definitely pray for you.
Randy, I am so sad for your loss. Saying a prayer for you.
I went back and read your post about “The Day Pap Died”. I’m glad I did. There are life lessons there everyone should know and be reminded of from time to time. Among them is having the understanding that a companion of love is grief.
I can’t get over the mystery that though we know love will bring heartache at an eventual parting we do not let that stop us from loving. Even the wedding ceremony traditionally includes “so long as you both shall live” or “until death do you part” acknowledging even in the beginning that parting will come. And parents have children also knowing parting must come. Our parents had us knowing that and for most of the BP&A readers it has come true. I can only conclude that we are so made by design that we know without conscious thought that love is more than worth its cost, whatever that cost may be. There is no beforehand calculation made or needed. Who would ever say, “To spare myself, I wish I had never loved?”
You ‘long thoughts’, Tipper, are just a season of life. I think now, (as it appears to me Pap did), ‘How can I make it as easy as I can for our kids?’ For myself I have no concern beyond hoping I will nor linger long a burden. I readily admit though that I cannot judge anything about how such lingering might serve a greater purpose. (Perhaps something along the line of “present you faultless”?) For us believers, we just have to let it be the Lord’s way and let the manner of our leaving be an offering we make.
I wish I could have known him. He certainly made his mark in this world and it was a good one. The last time and maybe the only time I saw him he was sitting a few rows in front and to the side of me at Storytelling at Young Harris. He was really enjoying the music of your twins as they performed. He looked really proud and he should have been.
We miss our ancestors, some more than others. But isn’t that the way life is supposed to be? We can share what the older generation taught us with the younger generation. My children were too young to remember much about their grandparents so it is left to me to share my memories with them.
Tipper, you really never lost your Pap, because his gentle spirit still lives in your hearts (and ours) and in everything he touched while on this earth -in the garden, in the kitchen or out and doing musical performances. Thanks for sharing your earlier posts of him. I remember how he would lift his right hand for emphasis when playing his old guitar and how he might quietly critique other members of the family band when he perceived them to be off-key or otherwise not doing their best.
I’m sorry for your loss. Six years sometimes feels like yesterday when you miss a loved one. I enjoy your stories of him and can tell how close you were. Earthly separation is never easy, but just remind yourself that God has promised to you as a believer you will see your loved ones again that were believers too. I know Pap was a believer from your stories, but more from how he worshiped our Lord through song.
I had made a picture of the Blind Pig Gang singing in the Blairsville Courthouse all looking up to Pap in the sky, please know he is also always looking down on you all. He was a wise and great human being.
Tipper, the piece called “The Day Pap Died” is so beautifully written with such tender, raw and heartbreaking detail that in reading it I felt taken to that night along with you—taken right up to the edge of your sorrow and left there to watch as you lay helpless upon your dear daddy.
I am so, so sorry for your loss.
Sadly, I will never know that kind of love and grief for a father. Your devotion to Pap is something I read and hear about from you that causes a measure of awe within me. I both cannot imagine it yet yearn for it at the same time.
I am so happy you had a dad like that.
Maybe, when we all get to heaven, (after we’ve spent a few million years with Jesus), you and I will meet and you can introduce me to Pap. I know he’ll be just as wonderful as you’ve said he is.
I pray the Lord rests your heart today with the peace that only His victory over death and the grave can possibly give.
I had the same relationship with my Daddy as you have with Pap. The only difference is that he didn’t accept the Lord until he was 84 years old. He never thought he deserved to be saved. He was in the hospital dying with congestive heart failure when a hospital chaplain led him to the Lord. He passed one day later. God is Good All the Time ❤ Nothing can take your memories away. Thanks for sharing your life with Pap with us.
Tipper,
My heart goes out to you. Ma died in 1993 from Lou Gehrigs disease. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t remember her about something or correct what I’m doing because she wouldn’t have done it that a way. My Ma was my bestest friend. Other than my beloved husband, I’ve never had one like her. Prayers for you that the Holy Spirit will flood you with comfort as you remember Pap.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 doesn’t tell us that Believers won’t grieve the loss of a loved one. We certainly do, but our grief is different that the grief of those who have no hope in Christ. Tipper, he’s not gone, he’s just gone on. The truth in that Scripture has brought me great comfort when grief would overwhelm me.
Tipper, believe it or not, I’ve got a lot of psychology experience and I’d say by everything you stated, you’re very astute as to your feelings and what exactly is going on with you. Losing a wonderful daddy like you had is bound to affect your mind, heart and soul and in a forlorn way. Then there’s one of the twin baby girl’s flying the coop and you know home won’t ever be the same. And you’re right. When my daughters left me (it feels like they did) to get married, there sat Murr and me staring at each other talking about what else- our girls. Over time, he and I rekindled our love and relationship. It was different because we are not young. We talked more about us and where we might like to travel and stuff we would like to see and do. I think we are besties now. As far as this world goes- reach over and shut off the propaganda black box!!! I do that a lot more and holler “Liars!” as well as other choice phrases. All I can tell you after studying the occult, these devils say and do exactly opposite of reality and it’s a Bolshevik tactic to wear you down… stay strong and pray all day long and through the night. Be ready to go and stand firm in that elect status before our Lord. Pap will be there when you need his presence. I guarantee it!
Sorry for your loss.
We lost my Dad in Jan. of this year at 81. Sudden and unexpected. Mom is 84 and holding on.
Every day is a gift.
Tipper, we never stop missing our daddies.
I’m so grateful for the loving, caring fathers we had.
Pap was such a wise, gentle, and strong spirit in this world, a rarity! I think of him often…and miss him!