Each time Aidan Walton opens his trumpet case, he is greeted by a picture of the father he never knew.

The photo, a newspaper clipping from 1975, shows Trevor Walton as a 10-year-old Cub Scout, playing taps for a Veterans Day event in Carlinville, Ill.

More than 30 years after the photo and nearly a decade after his father’s death, Aidan has followed in his dad’s footsteps. He is a Cub Scout with hopes of becoming an Eagle Scout, just like his father. Last year, he joined the Westchester Intermediate School band at the same age his father was when he started to play. They both picked the trumpet.

History repeated itself when Aidan, 10, stood in front of his classmates Friday, Nov. 7,, his father’s horn in his hands, and played taps to a crowd honoring veterans at school.

“He’s looking over us,” Aidan’s mother, Leah Walton, said of her husband, who died unexpectedly in 1999.

The performance was part of the school’s annual Veterans Day assembly, which was entirely student-run this year. Led by Cub Scout Pack 73, the students performed the opening and closing flag ceremonies, provided the music and led readings.

Aidan’s performance has made him somewhat of a celebrity at school.
“I’m famous now,” he said, noting the frequent congratulations he receives on the top-notch performance.

But trumpet was not the obvious choice for Aidan, who tried out multiple instruments when he joined the school band in fourth grade. His teacher told him the baritone seemed to fit him best, but he preferred the trumpet.

His grandmother passed Trevor Walton’s trumpet and the old photo to Aidan after learning his choice of instruments. When Aidan opened the case, he found all of the original equipment still intact.

“I look at it and think, ‘His dad’s hands played that and cleaned it with those tools,’” Leah Walton said.

Trevor Walton, a director at Fannie May Candies, died almost overnight of full-blown leukemia. Just a week before his death, he seemed in perfect health — golfing and mountain climbing. Later that week, he started feeling ill, but the doctors told him he likely had a virus.

His condition worsened and Leah Walton rushed him to the emergency room, where doctors discovered he had advanced leukemia, the symptoms of which were likely hidden because of Walton’s superb health otherwise. He died May 9, Mother’s Day. His son was just 11 months old.

“I never got a Mother’s Day,” Leah Walton said. “It’s so bittersweet. I hate it, but I also have (Aidan).”

Aidan, for his part, makes the day as special as possible each year with gifts and handmade cards to his mother.

Trevor Walton is buried in his hometown of Carlinville. Each year, mother and son make the 240-mile trip south to visit the cemetery on Memorial Day. Leah Walton said she recalled listening to trumpet players perform taps each year.

Trevor Walton played the tribute often during his career as a Scout. That will likely be another area where Aidan will to follow his father’s path.

“I hope (Aidan) has an opportunity (to play taps) more,” Leah Walton said. “There’s a need for more with all those veterans now.”