Two Times a Year

In my serial posts about Big Tony, I forgot to tell you that he played Augusta National. His Uncle was Seve Ballesteros’ translator back when; and, as a result, he got to play the course, with Seve, on the Monday after the Masters ended. As I recall, he shot in the high eighties or low nineties with Seve helping him line up puts on the still lightning fast greens.

So why do I tell you this today? Two things.

Today is Tony’s birthday; and, the Masters starts next week.

The genesis for the post came about noon today when I got a voicemail from Big Rick telling me that he was having lunch with Tony because it was Tony’s birthday. He was at the cemetery. He’d bought and brought with him, a Whopper with cheese and was chilling on the bench next to the grave. As usual, he said what he said much better than I’ve just written it and he made me smile.

So, I sent a text to the guys and girls telling them that it was T’s birthday and when they got a chance, they should hoist a glass. My unnamed Atlanta cop friend immediately texted back that he had not planned to go to the club today; but, it seemed he would have to be there.

We had a couple of beers and talked of other things until I announced it was time for me to have a shot and go home. We now have a new tradition – I do two shots a year – January 4 and March 31. My Crown Royal and his Trace. In our words: Happy Birthday Tony, We Miss You, Bastard.