I’ve been writing blogs of my personal adventures for the last 7 months and thought that this medium might be a good way to share some stories of my good friend Benny Cozzone.
We lost Benny way too soon. Period.
This fact has made me very sad over the past couple days but it has also made me very reflective and has brought some great memories of times shared with Uncle Benny. Since Ben had many friends scattered all across the US (if you draw a line from Kim, Donna, and I that covers 11,000 miles) I thought I would create this page to allow those unable to make it to the services the ability to post memories that we can all share. I also thought it would be a very good place to share pictures (of which I have exactly none) and stories (of which I have many).
Anyone who would like to post a story may e-mail it to me at the link at the bottom. Please feel free to comment on any stories as well. I will disable all log-in functions so that anyone can post a comment. I will however keep the moderation function enabled only to keep spam off of the blog, so if your comment isn’t immediately posted don’t panic. It’ll have to come to me first.
I last saw Benny approximately three weeks ago. I fly in and out of PA about 2 times a year and every time I’m in town I make it a point to see Benny and Carol. I don’t do this because I feel an obligation to do it…I do it because I generally enjoy their company as much as anyone I know.
During my last visit Benny and I broached the subject of how we met. Neither of us had a clue. I’m betting that this is true of many of his friends. Benny had a way of growing on you without your knowledge. He sort of became someone that you always wanted to be around. I don’t ever remember a meeting that didn’t have a laugh connected to it.
I’m pretty sure that we met on the volleyball court but I’m even surer that we became friends in a bar.
I remember Thursdays at the King’s Highway Inn. It was mandatory after every Caln match and sometimes contained over a dozen of us. He got me into the habit of sending a drink back to Bubba at the end of the night. I still do this to show appreciation to any of my friends crazy enough to work in a kitchen. He introduced me to Dottie, one of my favorite servers. He introduced me to dozens of people who have since become friends.
I remember mid-volleyball tournament drinks at the Friendly Tavern. I remember one particular night sticking Gar’s team with our bar tab after we beat them in the tourney. I remember bribing Joel to give us a two match break so our team could “sneak” away.
I remember playing doubles in the sand at the outdoor court at TK’s. One of my favorite memories which I will never forget was how we constantly had the hubby/wife play. We would constantly look at each other and ask “Are you gonna get that???” I especially like the one that hit ME in the foot and the smile on Benny’s face as he said “Did you want me to get that?”
Honestly… can anyone remember a team with so little talent on it!! I think that’s why we had such fun playing together. We laughed at every game. There was no screaming or bitching at each other… don’t get me wrong. We HATED to lose and gave 100% on almost every play (well most plays...lol) but when the match was over it was joke time and drinking hour. There was no blame for any of the horrible passes, lousy hits, just plain ridiculous service mistakes and OH SO MANY unforced errors. There was only praise for the one good block or one good hit. We spent a lot of time talking about how good we USED to be!
On my last visit Benny brought up one of his favorite stories about a match at TK’s where I was complaining that “I shouldn’t have eaten that pizza before we played.”
“How many slices did you eat?” he asked.
My reply… “What part of ‘that pizza’ didn’t you understand?”
I had forgotten that story but he remembered it. The way he told it with a smile and a chuckle made me feel good. The fact that he could recall that moment and still smile and laugh when he told the story pretty much summed up why Benny was so special to me. We genuinely enjoyed each others company. It is impossible for me to remember him without thinking of something he did or said that doesn’t make me smile or laugh.
I have other bar stories but I will limit it to those three for now just because those three bars are no longer around and that has a little irony about it for me.
My favorite things about Benny…
When he laughed it came from the heart. When you made him smile or laugh you KNEW it was genuine. If Benny didn’t like you…you knew that too. Normally if he didn’t like you…you probably weren’t worth liking. But if he did like you, he made sure you knew it. I don’t remember ever parting ways with Benny that did not contain a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.
I am planning on updating this blog at least once a month for the next year. I will add a special memory and hopefully anyone reading will take the time to add their thoughts to it. Again I encourage everyone to add a story or a picture so that we can ALL enjoy it.
In the end, I will NOT remember Benny as a friend…
I will remember him as a brother.
