Rock on, Uncle Rocky!

Me with the founders of the Missin' Links rock 'n' roll band: Uncle Rocky, left, and Uncle Dusty

My cousin Lisa and her husband Richard sent my Uncle Rocky (aka Fred Dixon) into retirement with a luau-style bash in Warner Robins, Ga. It should be noted that he's retiring from the insurance business, not the rock 'n' roll business. He's been the guitarist for the Missin' Links, who started as the Ideals, for nearly 50 years.

He said he had planned to start his retirement by just hopping in a car and taking a cross-country trip to see every little town and quirky sight from coast to coast. But now that gas is on its way to $4 a gallon, those plans are on hold. Or as we call it in my family, Dixon luck. And I'm half-Dixon, so that explains a lot about me. He also busted up a pinata full of lottery tickets that wound up being worth about $11. He should be able to stay retired for several days on that.

It was a surprise party and perhaps the only surprise party I've ever been to where the honoree was, well, surprised.