I miss you so much. It’s so hard to believe that you’re really gone. I’ll never forget those 3 words that Daddy said to me, the words that forever changed my life, all our lives - “We lost him”. Honestly , it still doesn’t feel real. I still feel like it’s all a horrible nightmare that I’ll wake up out of. When Larry came to my job that evening to tell me that you’d been shot, it NEVER crossed my mind that we’d end up where we are today. I just never thought that this would happen. I know that we worried about you, but I don’t think we ever really thought that we’d have to actually go through it. This just feels like a horrible mistake. I so wish it were a dream. Sometimes when I dream about you, I wake up and think you’re still here. I still find myself calling your phone, hoping that you’ll pick up the other end. But I know in my heart that you never will.
Things have been so difficult without you here. Everybody is “doing”, but your absence is felt every single day. No one should have to go through this. Mama and Daddy should have their son. Ericka should have her husband. Sydni and Chandler should have their Daddy. Gavin should have his Uncle Derek. Larry should have his “kickin’ it buddy”. I should have my big brother. My emotions sometimes get the best of me - I’m sad, angry, mad, confused, hurt. The tears still flow, the pain is still there and is just as deep. I just don’t understand why. I can’t imagine going the rest of my life without ever talking to you again, never hearing your voice or seeing your face. Everytime I come home I go to the cemetary to visit your grave site. The thought that I now have to visit you at the cemetary is absolutely mind-blowing to me.
Derek, I am so proud to call you my brother. Your life was the definition of H-E-R-O. I know you’re looking down and us and will forever watch over us all. Gavin has already heard so many stories about his Uncle Derek, and I swear you’re sometimes standing over my shoulder making faces at him! He would have loved you, and I know he would’ve had your heart wrapped around his little finger.
I only hope you know how much you were loved. Your passing has affected so many people in ways that we could’ve only imagined. You told us you were a Legend! Please know that your living was never in vain, and your sacrifice will NOT be forgotten. I promise you with everything I have to always keep your memory alive.
This is to every mother out therer and to my new mother Dawn!!!
Ever wonder what Tupac would sound like if he was a 5 year old proclaiming he is the “man of the house?” If you never envisioned that, then I want you to see the lil spitter rap over Pac’s “Dear Mama.” Lil’ Tupac…you are appreciated.
I know it’s been a long time, but as you can see we’ve been working on a very special project. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful bundle of joy. Gavin Derek Watterson. Gavin was born April 20, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. He is 5 lbs. 13 oz. and 18 in. long.
Just thought we’d send out a wish for a Happy, and more importantly BLESSED, New Year. Larry and I brought in the New Year last evening in Church. Bishop Hines went over certain numbers in the Bible. As we are leaving the year 2006, we learned that six is the number of satan’s influence. While he has certainly been working, he has not won!! Not to worry, however, because as we enter into the year 2007, we know that seven is the number of Completeness. God definately has something in store for us. I know he has something in store for all of you, too. We will continue to keep you in our prayers. We pray that you will do the same…
Just thought we’d send out a post to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Even though we didn’t get to go home for Christmas, we were able to spend it together, which was very nice. The morning started out in a surprising way… Larry wanted to get up and fix us breakfast - G. Garvin style. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as such. He most definately gets an A+ for effort (-;
After breakfast, we opened our presents. Lots of nice things on both sides!
Then we spent the afternoon relaxing in our new pajamas and drinking freshly brewed coffee. Because we all know that no Christmas would be complete if you didn’t bring it in in new pajamas and waking up to a pot of coffee (-;
Later we went to the show to see Dreamgirls. It was absolutely wonderful!! Jennifer Hudson definately stole the show. After she sang And I Am Telling You, the movie audience burst out in thunderous applause. I got chills and teared up, shockingly enough! It was beautiful.
We came home and made dinner, which turned out MUCH better than breakfast.
All in all, Christmas 2006 was very nice. Though we weren’t able to be at home with our families, we still feel very blessed to be able to spend it with each other. Merry Christmas everybody!
Hello everyone! There’s not too much to talk about. I just want to remind everyone to go out and vote on Tuesday Nov. 7th. I don’t care who you vote for but please go out and vote. Just because we’re not voting for President sigh, it’s still an important election. Why? Because the President doesn’t make the laws, Congress does. So 99% of the problems you have with our government stems from a law that is or isn’t in effect. And most of the entire Congress is up for re-election. Start looking TODAY who you’re going to punch your ballot for so there will be no excuses tomorrow.
I was searching the web and ran across this clip/poem. VERY Interesting.
This weekend Dawn and I drove up to Green Bay to visit and attend the game of one of my (our) dear friends, Kenderick Allen. The Packers played the Atlanta Falcons and won 38 to 10! Ken didn’t play due to a nagging abdominal muscle injury, but he is just sitting out until the regular season starts. He will be starting at the Defensive Tackle position.
After the game Ken and I took it back to the Old School knowledge dropping session, on the tailgate of his truck. We almost never talk about football unless it is high school or college. NFL, only if it’s very important. We talked about how things have changed over the years and different things we want to do to get it back the way it used to be, from politics to entrepreneurship. We discussed all of our friends that have been locked up or killed since we’ve gotten out of high school.
I’m the one to never ask too many questions, but there was one question that stood out in my mind. This one I had a strong feeling of the correct answer but I wanted to hear it from Ken. For the next 30-40 min he went into depth on his situations and career decisions. He also refereed me to this article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel…
Ya know, Athletes get a bad rap. From committing crimes to being dead beat fathers. The media should highlight the good thing they do in the communities and for their families. Some of the things we talk about, others will never get a chance to view that side of him. This is only because we have been true to each other since kindergarten.
Green Bay - Watching Kenderick Allen play catch with his young son in the parking lot outside Lambeau Field after a recent training camp practice, it’s easy to see why the 6-foot-4, 320-pound defensive tackle made the choice he did.
Faced with the possibility of losing employment, Allen said to hell with football this off-season and tended to something much more important: his 5-year-old son, Nicobe.
“Everybody’s story in life is different,” Allen said. “You have to be grown about every situation that you’re in and the importance of what you do and who you are and what responsibilities you have to put in order.
“During the off-season workouts, football is always second to my family. Even now if the situation wasn’t handled, football would be second.”
The situation was that this off-season, Allen, 27, was supposed to be taking part in the New York Giants’ off-season conditioning program. But to do so would have meant being away from home, where he thought his son needed his father.
Instead of training with the Giants, Allen returned to the Baton Rouge, La., area and began work on gaining full custody of his son. When he was playing football, Allen had to leave his son behind and split time in two different homes.
Allen wanted his son to be with him full time and went back to Louisiana to assure that Nicobe would be able to follow wherever his job took him.
“When I’m home, he stays with me,” Allen said. “When I’m in camp, he’s back and forth between grandmas. He’s 5 and I don’t want my kid going back and forth. One environment is different than the other. You learn this here and you learn this there. It shouldn’t be that way.”
Allen was reluctant to get into specifics but his motives were clear: He thought his son was better off being with him than being with the young boy’s mother. His attempt to gain full custody of his son meant spending most of the off-season in Louisiana working with lawyers.
He said he didn’t want to bad-mouth the mother of his child - the two are no longer together - but he thought it was better for his son to be with his father.
“I was raised by my father, so I turned out fine,” Allen said. “Anything is a challenge but your responsibility is your responsibility. My father never slacked on his and I’m not going to slack on mine. If the situation was better with my baby’s mama, she probably would have raised him.
“But the way things were I wasn’t going to let my child come up in a situation where I can do better.”
Allen’s devotion to his son cost him his job in New York. Though the Giants never gave a reason for rescinding a restricted free agent offer they had made to him, it’s well known in football circles that coach Tom Coughlin was not pleased with Allen for missing the conditioning work.
After Allen was cut, the Packers jumped all over him. They had done their homework on him and the same day he was released they made a call to his agent and set up a visit for him to Green Bay. Allen was out of shape when he came to Green Bay and still in the middle of a custody battle, but the Packers liked Allen’s size and power so much that they signed him to a one-year deal worth $700,000, including a $50,000 signing bonus and a $50,000 roster bonus.
“We really wanted a big guy in the middle,” pro personnel director Reggie McKenzie said. “They let him go. OK. Something fell in our laps. He didn’t have a lot of offers, not a lot of people calling him. He was a role player, but you have to look at him. He fits what we do.”
Allen said the Packers gave him a week and a half to settle matters at home despite being in the middle of their off-season conditioning program. It allowed him to gain custody of his son, which he hopes will be made permanent soon.
Two weeks ago, Allen moved with his son into a duplex here and hired a nanny to take care of his son while he was at training camp. He goes home when he can to be a father to his son because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.
“We’re going to work on making Green Bay home,” Allen said. “So when I get home I have to work hard and make it home. You just can’t make it home without work. He’s been here two weeks and he loves it; he loves being with me. Every time I leave he gets mad and cries. So as far as that, if my adjustment is good then his will be. It’s going pretty good.”
To really make it work, Allen has to make the Packers’ roster.
But that might not be a problem. Despite weighing 341 pounds at the first minicamp, Allen performed so well in off-season workouts that he was listed No. 1 on the depth chart at defensive tackle along with free agent Ryan Pickett.
Though the coaches downplay the official depth chart and insist that things are wide open, it says something about Allen’s ability that he was able to rise to the top without so much as putting on a pair of shoulder pads.
“He’s a big strong player,” defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said. “We moved him in with the first team, but it still has to work itself out. He’s off to a good start. He’s a big man who can plug up the middle for us.”
Allen said he was down to 320 pounds, which is about where the Packers want him. In their defensive system, they want two big men in the middle to eat up blockers and allow the linebackers to roam free. Allen isn’t as athletic as Grady Jackson or Pickett and he probably won’t make a lot of big plays, but he can be a very hard man to move.
Last year, he came off the bench with the Giants and played in a rotation system. Even if he continues to hold down a starter’s spot as he has, he’ll rotate with others in Green Bay. He insists that even though he entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2003 (with New Orleans) and played part time in New York, he isn’t a nobody.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m unknown,” Allen said. “Maybe unknown in Green Bay. But every team I’ve been on at some point in the season I’ve started. Even from my rookie year in New Orleans I started some games. To say I’m an unknown, I wouldn’t accept that.”
Nor, it’s certain, would his son.
So we obviously haven’t been doing a stellar job at keeping up with updates on our website. But I couldn’t let Larry’s birthday pass without wishing him a Happy B-Day. True, it is posted one day late, but that is to be charged to my mind and not my heart…Happy Birthday Baby!! I love you…
This weekend Dawn and I drove up to Green Bay to visit and attend the game of one of my (our) dear friends, Kenderick Allen. The Packers played the Atlanta Falcons and won 38 to 10! Ken didn’t play due to a nagging abdominal muscle injury, but he is just sitting out until the regular season starts. He will be starting at the Defensive Tackle position.