Aubrey

Dad’s favorite piece of chicken was the drumstick. In 1962 Dad was driving his 4 kids from New Orleans to Greenwood with another Tulane resident, George Arrington. I was 1 and a half. Some time into the trip I started crying and George Arrington asked Dad if there was something he could do to make me stop crying. Dad had bought a box of chicken and it was positioned between Dad and George. Dad patted the box and said “Give that boy a piece of chicken”. George gave me a piece of chicken which calmed me down. Dad looked in the rear view mirror and said “George, what piece of chicken did you give him?” George said “The drumstick” Dad said “No George, that’s drumstick is for me. Get it back and give that boy a neck bone” I know this story because George Arrington found me at Russell Williamson’s engagement party 30 years ago and basically told the story to me as an apology, that taking that drumstick from me was one of the hardest things he had ever done, because I seemed so happy with that piece of chicken. I told George not to worry about that anymore, that since then, Dad did not buy the chicken. Mom and Lucinda did, and they were buying enough for everyone to have a drumstick.

Dad’s favorite fish may have been mackerel. Not because he ate them often, but because he often referred to the mackerel when the outside temperature was really high or really low. In the winter he would say – It is as cold as a mackerel. In the summer he would say – It is as hot as a mackerel. Apparently the core temperature of a mackerel can vary a great deal.

Dad’s favorite drink was a gin and tonic. 15 years ago, during our family vacation at Fort Morgan, I had the bright idea of having brunch at the Dauphin Island Country Club, by boat. I told dad how wonderful the view was overlooking the gulf in the main dining room, how good the brunch menu was, and how going by boat would enhance the whole experience. We left Fort Morgan for the 15 mile trip to dauphin island. I had a tiny boat with no seats for passengers. Dad was sitting on a 54 gallon igloo cooler, holding a handle in each hand. The water was choppy and the boat ride was very rough. As we banged up and down, the skin over Dad’s knuckles were worn down and by the time we got to the Dauphin Island Country club, his hands were pretty bloody and he was pretty shaken. We arrived, worn out, only to be reminded that since it was a Monday, the main dining room was closed. The only thing open was the snack bar by the pool. It was about 10:00 in the morning, the waitress took our orders for breakfast. Dad’s order was a gin and tonic. The waitress came back with our water and orange juice and apologized to dad that there was no tonic. He replied “EVEN BETTER”, I”LL HAVE 3 FINGERS OF GIN. I tell that story because since then, I have used that phrase “Even Better” with greater appreciation. When things exceed expectations, or when you are determined to make a challenging moment a more positive one, it is a good response.

Dad’s feet were especially narrow. He wore a double AA when he could find them. Bostonian made a leather Oxford in a double AA. They fit him okay, but tennis shoes did not come in a double AA. He had to wear 2 pair of socks to play tennis. I think one or both pair were wool. People would watch him play and say, your day sure is light on his feet. I said he should be, he is running on 2 inches of wool. He claimed that since monkeys had short fat feet, that his long narrow feet were proof he was further along the evolutionary tree.

We all have countless stories about Dad, and he had countless stories about other people. And they were funny. It mattered not the topic, it could be weather, sports, vacation, world events, it mattered not. He would slip in a very appropriate funny story that would be connected in a seamless way. Every time. It was magic. And so was his life. To have been blessed with 50 years of marriage to mom. To have touched so many lives with his practice of medicine, to have brought so many babies into the world. And to have done that side by side with his own father and his own son, one influenced by the other. What a blessing. To have been an inspiration, if not the inspiration, for what ?? Eleven ?? of his own choosing medicine as a field. What a blessing. And after being a center piece of his family and a whole community, to have been blessed with Mary Dent as his wife. Mary Dent, who was already family, who made that home, 502 Poplar, the most welcome place for all of us. What a blessing. And to place on top of all of that the love each of you expressed to him, showed to him, and he to you, He would say, and we would agree “EVEN BETTER”