#127 - BG

One day when Blake was a few months old, Jeff came home and said, "Hey babe, there is the guy that I'm trying to hire to come to work in Houma.  He is from Odessa, TX.  I think he is going to sign a contract, but he doesn't have anywhere to stay.  You mind if he stays with us for awhile?"  (or something like that)  And that is how I met # 127.  He did come to work here and he did live with us for awhile.  Keep in mind that Jeff and I were a young 25 years old, but had already been married 3 years.  #127 was not only an only child, but was still very much single.  His idea of a night out began around 10 or 11 pm, and for Jeff and I, this was the second feeding.  Anyway, he took it all in stride, even being startled awake by a baby crying in the middle of the night (and anyone who knew Blake as a baby, knows that this was a very common occurance).  #127 adapted, and even volunteered for a feeding or two.  I'm not positive, but I think he even used my kid in conversation to pick up chicks.

He lived with us for several weeks?/months?  (Blake's birth - 1 is kind of a blur) and then got a place of his own.  I remember that he had a coffee table that was huge...and made in the shape of Texas.  He had boots (cowboy of course), a big belt buckle, and could not, for the life of him, say "Atchafalaya."  It did not take him long however to adapt to the South LA customs.  Here is a picture of his first Christmas here when he was "gifted" his first pair of Cajun Nikes.  He fit in just fine from the beginning and because I met him when I had my firstborn, I feel like I got to watch them both grow up.  (ha ha). 

One interesting thing about #127 that I had to learn, is that he has led a very interesting life.  He would start to talk about football in Odessa and all the talent there.  I kinda played it off as just a little braggin, until they wrote and book and made a movie about it.  I also remember a story about repelling off some mountain...blah,blah,blah, until one day I looked on said Texas coffee table and there he was on a magazine cover on said mountain.  There have been plenty of adventures over the years which make me smile, but not share except for this one...

Several years ago, #127 and I were sitting on a Rent-A-Couch in someone's garage watching the SuperBowl on a rented TV.  It was right before Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake had their famous "wardrobe malfunction."  (OK, you have to click on that link...love JT!!!) Anyway, #127 who had already begun the maturation process asks me if I knew a girl named BD.  I do and I did and I told him so.  I am happy to say that 6 short years later, they are married and have 3 beautiful children with one on the way.  I saw #127 this past weekend with kids crawling all over him and him loving it.  I am so happy for him and his family.  And I am totally taking credit that he knows how to handle crying babies. 

Our respective work and families have taken us in different directions, but #127 will always be someone I enjoy catching up with whenever I can catch him.  Who would have thought that the cowboy from Odessa with a twang I really had to listen to, to understand would become one of the biggest LSU supporters around.  He has also embraced Mardi Gras and is royalty this year.  All Hail the Cajun Cowboy!