I was fortunate to be raised not only by my father, Gene Coopwood, but my grandfather Scott Morrison and my great-uncle J.W. Thomas as well. My life has benefitted greatly from these three men.
When I was around five years old, my father went to dental school at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. During those years, he returned to our town of Shelby every month or so to see us.
“With Gene gone for a few years, Scott and I decided that we needed to take up the slack and put some time into you,” J.W. once told me. Scott and J.W. were born in the 1890s, so by the time I came along they were in their late sixties and somewhat retired, thus having the time to spend with me.
Every morning, either Scott or J.W. would pick me up and we would start our day at the old coffee shop in Shelby where the men of the town gathered to talk. The gin was the next stop and in the fall the motors were so loud you could hardly hear. I can still remember the concrete floor in the office shaking when the gin motors were running.
After that, we ended up at the hardware company where my family sold everything you can think of. Lunch was usually at Joe’s Diner in downtown Shelby or either at Scott or J.W.’s house. Both had cooks and their meals were always fried and always outstanding.
The afternoons would be a repeat of the morning.
During those days, Scott and J.W. had stopped hunting, but they often took me shooting (both preferred pistols). J.W. also taught we how to ride a bicycle and swim.
“Turning you back over to your father when he returned to Shelby from dental school was one of the hardest things I ever had to do,” J.W. told me. “But, you needed your father and he needed you, so Scott and I had to step back.”
Scott died when I was 13, J.W. when I was 25. My father died in January, 2011.
I look back and wonder where I would be today without the presence of these three great men in my life. I have made more mistakes in life and in business than one can possibly imagine. However, without these three men watching over me as I was growing up, I would have made many more.
So, on this special day, while I’m grateful to be the father of three wonderful children, I pause for a moment to think of the three who raised me.
Scott Coopwood, a seventh generation Deltan, lives in Cleveland, Mississippi, with his wife Cindy and their three children. Scott is the publisher and owner of Delta Magazine, one of the South’s leading lifestyle publications, the Delta Business Journal, the first business publication in the Mississippi Delta; and Cleveland’s weekly newspaper, The Cleveland Current. Scott’s company also publishes two weekly e-newsletters. Coopwood publishing concerns now reach 250,000 people. Scott is also a 1984 graduate of the University of Mississippi. He can be reached at scott@coopwood.net
