I was honored to be invited as the Walker clan paid their last respects and sent off their parents ashes into the ocean. It was scheduled for Saturday but Mother Nature, or as her son might say "Maybe is was Mom", had other ideas as far as the weather. So it was moved to Sunday. You all know Al and Evelyn from this blog and how much Al meant to me. What's funny is, Al and I were fishing buds. Don't forget I met Al when he was 87, his "kids" are older than me! So we didn't have that to talk about. Work, well I met Al in 2010 and he retired in 1989, so that wasn't on the table. For the most part we talked about, well two things, striped bass and fishing for striped bass. And that worked. Like I have said numerous times, I must have a things for older men. But for real, I think I'm fascinated by the knowledge and experiences they give to me, and in a way, I think they live through me as I'm in the middle of the full striped bass fishing mental disorder.
Al was born in 1924 and Evelyn in 1929 and both were from New Brunswick. They were married for 68 years and passed away 17 hours apart. Al had always told his sons they wanted their ashes dispersed at sea, either from my boat, or one that could handle the attendees. We boarded the Mariner
out of Atlantic Highlands and began out trip out. It was good to see his children, three sons and a daughter, along with their grandchildren and extended families. I got to talk with the boys and it was all good memories. A few funny things, one tells me he goes over to their house and there are all family pictures of Al and Evelyn and the kids and, then, there's a picture of Al and I in the mix. Mike tells the
story of when he and Al and I went out on my boat fishing, that was June 1st, 2013. Mike vividly remembers, as did I, how he drove a hook into his finger, and Al's reaction, which was more disappointment that the trip was going to end early. What is amazing is that neither of us mentioned that we had rescued two kayakers that day they were in sit-in kayaks way out in the bay. You can re-read the post from that day HERE.
The boys told me of Al's logs, which I will have to see somehow sometime, and there were entries like this, "No fishing, Evelyn had a baby", which is just about as bad-ass a fishermen you could get. There are two things, well there's many, that are instant Al's, a Creek Chub, which was his favorite go-to topwater plug, and his red, well fade to pink, hat, which his son Tom still displays at home.
Al was a Navy man and the Captain read a passage from Psalms, we said a prayer, there was a Navy dispatch and then words from the family. It was beautiful to hear how much of an impact both of them
had on their children and grandchildren. I can only hope that I too could be the man that Al was to so many and be remembered, and sent off, in such a way as they did yesterday. When the words were done Mike, with Mom's, and Tom with Dad's, opened the urns and spread them out into the sea. They loved
the waters around New Jersey, from the rivers to the bays to the ocean. They would often go down the street from their Spier Avenue house in Allenhurst and sit on the bench there looking out into the ocean. Evelyn enjoying a quiet moment with her man reflecting on their lives, and he, well of course, looking for birds, bait or bass! We spread flower pedals, flowers and a wreath after the ashes had mixed in with the saltwater and were carried off with the ebbing tide. Of course, a few spinning rods made the trip
just in case some bass showed themselves near by. Both rods, one mine and one of Al's, were both tipped with that good old Creek Chub. Even though they didn't get wet they belonged on the boat, along with so many that loved that pair and will have the fondest of memories of them for a lifetime.
