"You Never Give Me Your Money"

 It seems to me that I am never prepared for the death of someone I know. Sometimes you know they are near death but the moment still surprises me. Sometimes, there is no warning and the death surprises everyone. My friend Robert "Bob" Austin just died and I was totally surprised. I heard about it on Facebook from his son Rick announcing the sad event. Luckily I know Rick well enough to ask him what happened.

I have known Robert for more than 25 years. I met him at Coasters, where he spent time with his dad Jim Austin, and good family friend John Pitkethly, who happened to be my boss at ENSCO for many years. Eventually, I started to play golf in a foursome with Robert and John and coworker Gaylen Drape.

When I met Robert at Coasters back in the late 1990s, he was usually there with his wife Nancy and their son Rick. This is a picture of Nancy at Coasters, with Robert on the right hiding from the camera. Nancy died a few years after this photo.

It was back in 2000 I was playing golf with the foursome. We played a lot of courses and Robert was the best player of the four. It was I who said to Robert "You Never Give Me Your Money", because he usually won the skins and any other bets we may have had. Mostly we played in the Brevard area, but we did get to Disney World to play a round or two. Here are Robert, Gaylen and John at the Magnolia Course, where at that time, the PGA tour was also playing this same course.

Just to prove I was there too, here is Robert, Gaylen and I at the Magnolia Course.

For Robert, golf was an important part of his life and he was good at it. For many years, John and his wife Rose's Uncle Radar would come to the area for a golfing excursion. John would set up a few rounds in the local area including the 27 holes at Cocoa Beach. Here are Gaylen, Robert and Steve Austin, the younger brother of Robert. No, Steve is not the Six Million Dollar Man, but Steve knew how to "Crush It!"

Robert had a beautiful swing...

Although Robert had moved away to Texas, we saw him a few times a year. Many of his siblings lived in the area, and his dad Jim, who I mentioned earlier, was a regular in the drinking group I joined after retirement. That is Jim on the left, Ken Horton in the middle, and Robert on the right. This was 2024, and we were at Cadillac Cove in Satellite Beach.

Sadly, Robert's father Jim passed away in February of 2025. He was a leap day baby, born in 1928. He turned 24 (96 total years) in 2024 and just missed his 87th Birthday. I always told Jim he needed to turn 100 so I could celebrate his special Birthday. He would have been 25.

Robert talked at his father's funeral back on 2/15/2025.

It was shortly after that my old Boss John also passed away. His son David wanted to have a Birthday Party at Lou's Blues in his honor. Robert, in the center, made it to the celebration. John would have been 88 on 4/8/2025.

From left to right are David, Al, BJ, Robert, Joe, Ken, and Peter.

I think I only saw Robert a few more times after this photo. When I asked Rick what happened to his dad Robert, here is his response

"Heart attack. He played 18 holes of golf, had some beers, went and had a good Italian dinner, went to the bar, and after that he died at the hospital. Would’ve been the perfect last day for him."

I agree with Rick. Have a great day and then pass away...For Robert's sake, I am glad it was so quick. He was not one to linger over a putt! 

RIP my friend. 

About Title

"You Never Give Me Your Money" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney (and credited to Lennon–McCartney), and thematically documents the personal difficulties the band was facing. The song is the first part of the medley on side two of the 1969 album Abbey Road and was recorded in stages between May and August that year.

The song was the first one recorded for the medley, which was conceived by McCartney and producer George Martin as a finale to the Beatles' career. The backing track was recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London, but the remainder of overdubs occurred at EMI Studios. The song contains a suite of various segments, ranging from a piano ballad at the beginning through to guitar arpeggios at the end.

"You Never Give Me Your Money"

Version by Tenacious D

McCartney wrote the song when he was staying with his wife Linda in New York in March 1969, shortly after their wedding. This was a break following the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. John Lennon and McCartney were at risk of losing overall control of Northern Songs, the company that published their songs, after ATV Music bought a majority share. McCartney had been largely responsible for the group's direction and projects since manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, but he began to realise that the Beatles' group dynamic was unravelling.