Immediately I
thought, 60, really. Wow that’s a long
time. Monica, must have been like 7 or 8
years old when they married. That’s
weird, oh well…
I jotted down a few memories and unfortunately they might not mean a great deal to anyone but me, however they were great moments for me
because of Al, I had a smile on my face the whole time thinking of all the fun
I’ve had with my Cousin Al, MY Godfather.
My “blocks pajamas”-My folks were so proud of
their nephew at the naval academy and Al had bought me a pair of pj’s with
blocks on them. Just this past week my
Mom and I were laughing about how I looked forward to bedtime because I would
always say, “I can’t go to bed with my blocks everywhere, Cousin Al wouldn’t go to bed with his blocks
scattered everywhere, right.” We would
just all laugh and next thing I would know I’d be in bed sooner than I should
be.
Go Navy-Anyone that doesn’t think this is a
unique thought didn’t have a soldier for a father. Don’t get me wrong I did/have/will love my
Dad very much, however I think he understood why I rooted for Navy in the Army-Navy game.
This thought passed when Al left active duty with the Navy and my father
forgave me for my impure thoughts, ha.
Seriously, that is how much my Dad respected Al. That’s pretty cool.
Me, chasing Al around my backyard with my Star Trek Gun-I
know Al doesn’t remember this, however I remember him coming to visit our house
and it was the best weekend ever. I can
remember it like it was yesterday. I
must have made him circle our house 100 times shooting him with my play
gun. I laugh just thinking about
it. Honestly, I’m laughing while I type
this.
Meeting Monica-to be honest it may have been
the same weekend of the Star Trek gun (ironically, I never liked Star Trek…I
think Al did right? I remember trying to like Star Trek because he liked
it). I recall being a little suspect of anyone barging in on my
cousin/godfather’s attention, however that didn’t last long. “Why” you may ask? “Have you met Monica?” is my answer. I still think he out kicked his coverage in that
regard.
Watching Al smoke a cigar at his wedding- At
Al’s reception, I watched him with a cigar in his mouth and I thought my world
came to an end. My hero smoked? Seriously, my Mom had to console me by telling
me Johnny Bench and Dave Concepcion did things that weren’t perfect and they
are still good people. This was a lot
for a kid to grasp.
Lots of great cousin time-Through the years, I
was always proud that when our family needed a strong cousin, Al would always take the lead in tough times.
He still does it to this day.
Thanks Al.
Going to Cooperstown with Al and really coming to the reality
that he is a Yankee fan-This was a tough one. I guess I knew from his wedding reception that
he wasn’t perfect. I just really didn’t
know he was that much of a Yankee Fan. I
love the Gloff family (Bigtime Yankee Fans) more than you can ever know. This is just tough stuff for us Watkins’ boys
to grasp. A Yankee fan. Ten years ago, I think it was just after his
50th, I stopped by his place on a trip and we went through
Cooperstown together. The best part was how much we were in our own
world, and lost track of each other as I followed the Reds’ dominance of the
seventies display and he followed some team that is “so vice they named it
twice.” We seriously would find
ourselves in different wings of the museum in just ten minutes. Funny thing is I never felt like Al left my side.
I’m sure everyone has a different a description of Al
Eaton. That’s mine. Hey Al, thanks for being MY Cousin and MY Godfather. I know I’M Blessed.
My Favorite Photo of the Eaton Boys!
Happy Birthday Al!
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