Uncle Albert - Doing More at 84 !!!

HAPPY 84TH BIRTHDAY UNCLE ALBERT

Here is a photo of Uncle Albert with some of his sisters and his parents. Left to right: Gladys, Doris, Ollie (Albert's mother), Ona and on the bottom row Thomas (Albert's father) and Albert. This was taken when Albert was in the Navy in WWll. There were 2 sisters not in the photo, Hazel and Pearl, who were living in Oklahoma.
Here is a photo of my dad on the left and Uncle Al on the right. They had an interesting trip from California in this old car and the story is amazing.

Uncle Albert is having his 84th Birthday today and he is doing more at 84 that most of us who are much younger. I admire my uncle for his many accomplishments. He has served in 2 wars, he married Vesta and helped raise her 2 wonderful children after their father died when they were quite young, he has always been a person we look up to for his love of family and his bright outlook on life, he has made fiddles that are truly works of art and he also plays the fiddle beautifully. He is a high stepper when it comes to the dance floor. After Aunt Vesta passed away, he started playing at some of the local dances. Many girls have stood in line waiting their turn to "cut a rug" with Uncle Al. He has a license plate that states, "No riders except Blondes, Brunettes and Red Heads". He has had many widow women chase him around but he still remains footloose and fancy free. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Uncle Al as he saved my mother from drowning when she was a young girl. Below is an old photo taken in 1926 with Uncle Albert on the running board of their family car called a Star. It was taken at the Payson Pump station in Oklahoma.

From left to right is Ollie (Uncle Al's mother and my grandmother), Baby Doris (my mother), Albert, Thomas or Tom (Uncle Al's father and my grandfather) and Ona (my aunt). Besides his younger sister, Doris and his older sister, Ona, he had 3 other older sisters - Gladys, Hazel and Pearl. He also had one brother that died as an infant.

Uncle Albert is a very handsome man with a deep base voice. Here he is in WWll while serving in the Navy. You can see why all the girls were always chasing after him. He and my dad were also very close friends.
He can play the fiddle with the best of them and in 2002 he was patting his foot here while playing for our family at a reunion in Oklahoma.

The picture below is Uncle Al, my cousin Jimmy and my cousin, Bob jamming at a reunion in October 2004. In 2004 our family gathering in Oklahoma was at a park in Midwest City. It was for Uncle Al's 82nd birthday. We also celebrated my cousin, Bob's 82nd birthday at the same time. They both got large cakes and we had lots of laughs. We also surprised Uncle Al with a very special gift. Gary was in Kuwait at the time and had flown a flag in Uncle Al's honor on July 4th while he was there. He sent it home with Uncle Al's name and the date it was flown and it was presented to him in a special flag ceremony given by my cousin, Boyd, who is a military chaplain. Boyd has done hundreds of flag presentations to families over the years. Uncle Albert was honored that day by all of us and we are very proud of him and the many others in our family that have served in the military for us to be free in a wonderful country called the United States of America. We salute all of them.
This photo was taken in 2005 when we stopped in Oklahoma on our trip to California. Uncle Albert is such a handsome & precious man and I am so happy that he is part of our lives.
This was taken in July 2005 when he came for a visit with his son and family. Gary & Uncle Al are both looking quite patriotic here. Two very handsome men that I admire and love.
Gary & I were on a float in the Fourth of July parade in our home town and Uncle Al was sitting under a shade tree enjoying family and the parade. Gary was honored after his return from Kuwait/Iraq and we were asked to represent the unit by riding on their float and throwing candy to the crowd. It was a fun day and we all enjoyed the activities. Having Uncle Al there just topped it off.

This was taken on Easter of this year. Uncle Al was kidding around with the Easter Bunny. Both of them were having way too much fun.

Uncle Al on his way home to the city. He had a copy of the newspaper with an article I had written about Rosie the Riveter. He is still doing more at 84 than most of us do that are many years younger. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU UNCLE AL. WE LOVE YOU, ADMIRE YOU AND RESPECT YOU. HUGS AND KISSES - EAT A PIECE OF CAKE FOR ME. OK?? I LOVE YOU, JANET