HEARTWARMING: Family brings Pops home to Paris to make his final wishes come true

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A daughter and her family have brought their father back to the Paris area, where he made his life for more than 55 years, to make his final wishes come true.

Dana Barcellos-Allen, along with her wife, Kerry, and their son, Cooper, recently brought their father, Jerry Allen, home to see his family and friends one more time after he received a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.

“Since December, he has been hospitalized four times and diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He can’t fly because his pulse oxygen will drop too low, so we decided to drive,” Dana said.

So, they rented an RV, loaded up their family, and made the 1,750-mile drive from Connecticut to Texas. When the trip is complete, they will have traveled through 15 states in about 15 days.

“His doctors and rehab team got his meds regulated and levels in good shape, he responded great to physical and occupational therapy, and they cleared him to travel,” Dana continued. “My wife and I wanted to give this trip to him so he could return to his home, see family and friends after a long time away, and enjoy real Southern cooking and real Tex-Mex.”

Dana added that Pops is turning 85 on the last day of their trip.

“There have been fun times, bittersweet times, and some hard ones,” Dana said. “Overall, Pops’ Homecoming Tour has been the perfect blend of love and chaos.”

Dana said Pops has been “so excited to finally come home.”

“It’s been nice to visit people and see the sights,” Pops said. “You stay in one place for 55 years and you miss it.”

His favorite thing he’s done so far?

“Eat, eat, and eat!”

Especially enchiladas.

“We’ve been able to see so many friends and family, explore Paris and Cooper, visit the sites of Pops’ former houses, old schools, etc. He’s enjoyed just driving around and seeing how the town has changed (we are all in love with downtown!), and we’ve gotten to hear stories and get them on video so we have them recorded as part of our family history,” Dana said.

Pops moved from Arkansas to the Paris area when he was 16 in 1953 and finished high school in Cooper. He met Dana’s mother, Clara Nell Vandever from Paris, and they married and lived in the area until 2010, when Clara passed away and Pops moved in with Dana and Kerry in California.

“In California, we rescued our dogs, Joey and Charlie, who are on this RV trip with us,” Dana said. “We all lived there until we moved to Avon, Connecticut, in 2016. Then our son, Cooper, joined us in 2019, and he’s now three years old and loving RV life. He and my dad are extremely close – Cooper calls him Popsy.”

Dana and Kerry said they are thankful they were able to bring Pops back home one last time.

“Making this trip possible was important because all he wanted was one more trip to Texas and there were times we didn’t think he’d get that during the height of the pandemic,” Kerry said. “Giving him this time to reconnect with the place and people he called home for 55+ years was critical to giving him closure for that part of his life. And, we all deserve happiness and closure at end of our lives.”

You can follow Pops’ adventures with the hashtag #PopsHomecomingTour2022 on social media.