Watkins, Benjamin T

Ben was my best friend for years and years. We shared an old Victorian flat in the mission for a while and we worked together as nurses, both at the VA and for Hospice By The Bay. I have many fond and loving memories of Ben, but I think the one I'll share is of the night in the mid 90's when Lou Reed played the Fillmore. We went to the concert, and once inside, standing up as always at the Fillmore, we worked our way down in front where we could see Lou Reed very well. After two or three opening numbers, Lou did Walk On The Wild Side. Ben was dancing to the music and as he did he took off every stitch of clothing he had on except for a well worn jockstrap. If you knew Ben, you know that he had a very nice package which included a set of lowhangers that would make Apolo weep with envy, and he could really fill out a jockstrap. He so caught Lou Reed's eye that at one point it was almost like Lou was singing to Ben. When Lou finished the number, amid all the cheers Ben yelled out, Lou, I love you. Lou Reed grabbed the mike with one hand and pointed to Ben with the other and said, Dude, I wanna get to know you. The crowd went nuts. In fact, Ben and Lou never connected after the show, but clearly the chemistry was there. If I mispelled any words please forgive me, I'm a very bad speller. But there ani't nothin wrong with my memory.