Poppa P

This post is kind of a downer, yet happy... read on if you want...

About 2 weeks ago the mother of the school, also known as the office manager, told all of us, my mom included, while at dinner that Poppa P had prostate cancer, and was in the late stages. He had only found out about 2-3 weeks before. Prostate cancer for black men is always especially tough. For Poppa P it was too late. Last Monday I was called in to sub, and the office manager told me that Poppa P was about to go. The office manager spent all Monday night at the hospital, and Poppa P died Tuesday morning. Poppa P was like the poppa of the school- always there.

Poppa P was married to a history teacher who had worked at the school for 36 years. The history teacher was a 5' tall, heavyset little black woman with thick glasses, but had so much life to her. She was the cheer coach, the drill team leader, the song team leader. She just had so much school spirit, and she is still around today. She is one of the regular subs at the school, like myself. I always love to run up to Elaine and give her a big hug and kiss. She's just the sweetest woman. I love her so dearly. Anyways, Poppa P was her husband, quite a contrast to Elaine. Poppa P was probably 6'4'', always smelled of cologne, always in a suit or dress clothes- I never saw him jeans. He always had on leather shoes. He always hugged everyone. He was always on campus. He was at any event Elaine was working with. He was always there to help out. Even still, when Elaine retired 2-3 years ago Poppa P and Elaine never left. I can still see Poppa P being led as Elaine grabbed his hand and walked down the main hall at school. They had a genuine love for each other.

I was not looking forward to tonight because I did not want to see Poppa P in a casket. To tell you the truth I have never been to an open casket funeral or even viewing. My grandpa's funeral was closed casket. 2 former teachers from the school both had closed casket wakes and funerals. I was a little weirded out by the fact, but it ended up not being bad. My mom and I drove together, and Linda followed behind us. The math teacher who used to be in the classroom next to my mom showed up at the same time. We all went in together and all kind of looked to see, as none of us liked the idea of going to see Poppa P like this. Linda went first, and came back to tell us that he looked "cute" was her word, which seemed weird. Poppa P did. He had a childish look on his face, and didn't look like he was in pain at all. About 10 current and former teachers were there. When I went up to the casket and saw Poppa P I did cry. It wasn't because I was weirded out, but because I felt so overwhelmed by the love that was in the room. I felt sad I will never see Poppa P or Elaine walking down the hall with him again. But what really got me was the love. The former teachers were there. We were all talking. We were joking about the school motto, and how it holds so true. Poppa P was an honorary member of the school, all the staff there was current and former, yet they still feel as much apart of the school as when they left. The bond between staff is so incredible at this school. I blogged about my mom's birthday, and how she had been gone for a year, yet everyone was so excited to see her. All former teachers stay in contact, which is incredible, and if something is going on though 1 former teacher may have been invited 5 or 6 former teachers show up. When 1 says let's go out to eat to another, 5-6 others come in tote. Just an incredibly close staff. I felt so much love as they hugged me and told me how I'm one of them and the school motto is applicable to me. I can tell you that I feel the love, especially as I was going through this and dealing with this acquaintance- they just accepted me and things were back to normal.

As we were leaving I went back up to the casket and felt at peace. I was so glad to see Elaine was holding up well. I know she is a strong woman. I'm so glad to have got to meet her and Poppa P. She thanked everyone for coming, and many of us wanted to attend the funeral, but we couldn't. The math teacher who was in the room next to my mom said she wanted to attend, but couldn't, and Elaine understood because she was teaching. Linda wanted to attend, but couldn't afford to take off. My mom wanted to attend, but her office manager at her new school actually gave her a really hard time about taking off to go to this, so she chose not to. But the love was just there. One cool thing that I learned was 2 of the teachers named their kids after teachers who work at the school. Everyone loves each other and is so understanding. We hugged. Elaine said she knows I would have been there too tomorrow, but she knows I have a mission to keep "those kids in line," so tomorrow I will go into school and keep those kids in line so that others can go to the funeral and pay their respects.