Get Out Your Hanky’s! One Comment About A Woody Tie Turns Into So, So Much More!

Yesterday Wilson Wright did a nice comment regarding a Woody Tie he found at a store, and then loooong time fellow Woody Boater Victor Fabricius AKA Floyd R Turbo chimed in with this gut wrenching tie story! Wow. We are all reminded at this time that we are all one family and when one of us is in trouble we are here for each other. Here is Victors longer story to read this Sunday Morning

Reading Chase’s report on his Thanksgiving boat ride on Lake Burton in north Georgia yesterday and Wilson Wright’s response regarding the time he was in Atlanta and stopped into a men’s wear store while he was in Atlanta called “Stockton’s” led me to recall my encounter with Stockton’s.  Actually, it was called “H. Stocktons”, a very traditional men’s wear store with your best button down oxford shirts and silk power ties and suits to make the necessary impression needed back in the day of 3 piece suits.  Wonder why they stopped at 3, has there never been a 4 or 5 piece suit?  But I digress, Ham’s store was a little, well actually, it was way above my price point, but it was interesting to see what the CEO’s and other banker types were wearing before the advent of casual Friday’s became popular.

One of Floyd R Turbo’s Varnish Jobs ready to go!

To give you some background, I’ve been kind of an itinerant “shipwright” and i use that term loosely working at different shops in the area just trying to learn the trade/craft of boat restoration.  Helping out in one shop I was told it was Ham Stockton’s family boat.  It was so long ago, I don’t remember the model, I think it was a CC utility.  Anyway, during the day, I was a project manager for a gov’t agency in downtown Atlanta but would work at different boat repair shops at night or on the weekend s to learn everything I could about boat building or restorations.  I happened to stop by “H. Stockton’s” a men’s wear store just window shopping in downtown Atlanta near where I worked during the day knowing I  really couldn’t afford anything in there.  Browsing, I was waited on by his son, if I remember, over 20 or more years ago and he asked if he could help me and I said came in to browse but I mentioned we just worked on their boat a little while back and he called his dad, Ham,  over (the “H” in “H. Stockton”) and mentioned it to him.  They were so pleased with the work and happy with the boat and talked about boats when he brought up the tie Wilson Wright mentioned.

I said that was amazing, never seen a woody boat tie.   Seeing that i was a “business man” (so to speak – well, I worked for the “gov’mint” and I wore a tie).  He asked me what I did and I said I was “a mercenary for state government, hired to kill time”.  He laughed so hard he gave me the tie.  I treasured it so much, I never wore it.  I have a problem with things like that related to wood boats, I think its called hoarding (before the name became popular).

Alayna and Floyd … The Turbos

Which brings me to why I was selling the tie as Matt and Kentucky Wonder had so kindly inquired.  My middle child, Alayna now 26 who Matt and I had talked about discussing his son’s experience as an art major with Alayna’s being studio art which she eventually turned to fine art.  Matt’s son was at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design- a very prestigious and well recognized art school my daughter would have loved to attend).

However on October 16th , Alayna’s roommate called us and said she was not well and we should come to downtown Atlanta and check on her.  We found her to be conscious but she didn’t know or acknowledge anyone and could not even talk coherently.  Rushing her to our local ER, nurses and doctors immediately went to work pulling blood samples indicating alcohol and drugs were negative and her liver function was critically low with low blood pressure and heart rate.

Alayna in intensive care

To condense her 4 week stay in Intensive care unit from that point, her organs began shutting down and doctors put her on a ventilator, kidney dialysis, and 9 IV pumps at last count as well as a feeding tube and tubes to drain fluid buildup.  After weeks of praying and hand ringing, her sedation and oxygen was slowly decreased.  At her lowest point, my son came in to visit her (her younger sibling) as she was barely responsive and started joking with her and got her to smile and somehow from that miraculous point she has been slowly coming back.  Just 2 days ago she was able to build up enough energy to speak above a whisper.

Infectious disease, liver, and kidney specialists have no idea what triggered her liver infection but they have given her every test known.  Most recent biopsy’s of her muscles, liver, and bone marrow have been sent off to the Mayo Clinic for evaluation and hopefully something will be found.  Currently, Alayna receives regular physical therapy to try to regain her mobility.

At one time, I was disappointed that Alayna didn’t show interest in the wooden boats I had that her older sister or younger brother had but made up for it as captain of the Ga State University Woman’s Rowing Team, a coxswain for the GSU men’s team as well as a rower for the woman’s 4’s and mixed 4’s for 4 seasons.

Alayna is very competitive and athletic

As a cross country runner in high school running became our real connection the last 10 years running half marathons at Thanksgiving together and other running events.   This was to be her last semester and had extended her time at GSU in order to work as the university’s student run radio station’s general manager, one of the country’s top 10 university stations.  GSU had sent her many times to NY, Chicago, and Austin Texas to South by Southwest, a well know week long music festival to meet with industry people and other groups as she was well regarded as having insight into up and coming music groups in the Atlanta area.  Producing and hosting 4 music programs over the course of her attendance at GSU, she is now the music coordinator for WRAS Album 88.5.

THERE IS A GOFUND ME PAGE TO HELP COVER MANY OF THE EXPENSES DURING THIS TOUGH TIME.

Victor