#80 - TA

#80 is my godfather.  He is also my uncle.  He has always lived in the Baton Rouge area, so I did not always get to see him very often, but the times that I do see him are always memorable.  These are a few stories about Uncle Tony that I remember growing up.

He is very accident prone.  This is why I say this:
- One year for Christmas, my dad had a skateboard ramp build for my brother.  We are not talking two bricks and a board...we are talking a full fledged, took up the entire backyard, not a half-pipe, but a full pipe skateboard ramp.  Let's just say that Uncle Tony's nickname is not Tony Hawk.  5 seconds after his debut on the ramp...we were in the car on our way to the hosptial to set a broken wrist.

-I do not remember where this was, but I remember riding with my Uncle Tony from Baton Rouge to some sort of a lake house/cabin in some woods???  The two things that I remember about this trip is that we stopped at a gas station and he let me buy 2 packs of grape Bubble Yum and encouraged me to eat one after another until both packs were gone.  You know how Bubble Yum flavor goes away in like 10 - 20 seconds...well with Uncle Tony, that was ok, you just threw that old gum out the window and popped the next one in.  I remember this being very cool...but also thinking that my mom would not think it was so cool.  (in retrospect, probably not my dentist either)

- On the same trip that I just mentioned (did I already mention that Uncle Tony is accident prone?), I remember that about 5 minutes after we got there and met up with the rest of the family,  Uncle Tony grabbed a vine from a tree, and proving his name is not Tarzan either, tried to swing from one bank to another and...you guessed it...fell and broke his leg.  Another trip to the hospital.

- Now, I cannot really say that I witnessed this story because I think it happened when my parents were growing up...but rumor has it that when Uncle Tony was a younger lad...he threw a brick up in the air to see how high it would go and ... you guessed it... it came back down and hit him on the head resulting in... a trip to the hospital and stitches.

-  And so it goes with Uncle Tony.  He also is the proud father of 4 boys and 1 girl.  When his daughter was little, he let her have a pet potbelly pig that they kept in the backyard.  He makes me laugh and keep 911 on speed dial whenever he is around.  How can you not love that combo!  Love ya Uncle Tony!