Memories of my Uncle Bob Cook by Jeff Lovich
One of my earliest memories of “Uncle Budsy” must have been when he was still in high school and I was about 5 years old. He was interested in chemistry and had a “chemistry set” in the basement of his parent’s home in Erie, PA. I still remember being fascinated by all the colorful bottles of chemicals and the glassware that came with the set. In particular, I didn’t know what beakers were. He had a large one and a small one but also one that was intermediate in size. I asked him what it was and he told me it was a medium beaker. I knew small and large, but I’d never heard of anything medium before and I really liked that beaker.
About the same time, I also remember marveling at how a garbage truck could lift up those big trash containers outside the back of stores. He told me it was because of “hydraulics” and I became fascinated with a new word.
When he was in college at Penn State working on a degree in chemistry he got a summer job/internship working at a place called Hazelton Laboratories near Tyson’s Corner, VA. That summer he lived with us in Alexandria and I had a blast spending as much time as possible with him. One memory that we both enjoyed over the years was when he would get down on the floor on all fours and act like a raging hippopotamus. I would jump off our couch onto his back with a toy rubber knife and stab him while we rolled around laughing. Many years later he would ask me if I still had the rubber knife!
About the same time, my Dad would go out to Woodbridge, VA to visit a friend with an airplane. Budsy and I went with him one time. The friend had a pond on his property. One day, Uncle Budsy and I decided to go for a swim in the pond (I don’t recall asking permission). There was a small boat for kids to play in and I got inside. Meanwhile, Budsy took on the role of a raging hippo and rocked the boat for our amusement.
Another fun memory involves an old 45 RPM record I found in the trash behind our apartment when I was about 6 or 7 years old. The record was an old Eddie Lawrence comedy schtick. One side had a story about an African safari gone bad with Mogambo as the main character. Budsy and I thought it was hilarious. While still in the apartments Budsy bought me a Gil Hodges first baseman mitt and I remember waiting all day for him to come home so we could go out back and play catch. I think I still have that glove. As I recall, he bought me my first plastic bat and whiffle ball too as he really like sports.
While working at the lab he was able to bring home a couple of Guinea pigs they didn’t need and they were some of my first pets. He also brought home some quail eggs one day that we opened up to look inside but they were infertile. After he left he sent me a letter with pictures he drew of animals including a little circle that he labelled, a “dog egg”. This fascinated a 6-7 year old of course even though I really didn’t understand how a dog could have an “egg”.
Later, when I was about 10 years old, my sister and I spent a week or two with him when he lived in Norfolk, VA with his young family. Jimmie was only about 2-3 years old. Bob taught me how to play tennis there and I still remember how much fun it was learning from him. As I recall, he lived within walking distance of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. There were beautiful lakes there and I would sneak in to fish despite warnings from him not to go in, and abundant “No fishing” signs!
Bob and I often reminisced about these memories over the years and he never forgot about the rubber knife or Mogambo!
