Tradition

This weekend my nephew David came to Lansing to watch the NCAA basketball games. He and I have made it a tradition to watch the final four each year. A couple years ago we went out to some backwoods bar to watch the games with my buddy Jason Feltz. We all three took turns hitting on our poor waitress. As you might have guessed, none of us got her phone number. Then two years ago I was in Las Vegas with David and my brother's entire family for the final four. We all made wagers on the game and David was the only one to win money. Hopefully next year we can get final four tickets since the games are being played in Detroit.

David is turning into a really fine young man. As we spent the weekend together, I was impressed with how grown up he has become and how well he handles all the drama in his life. I warned him ahead of time that this year I had church on Saturday night but he didn't complain about having to go or missing most of the first game. Because he works at a coffee shop, he was put in charge of making coffee for the service. He also haul chairs and speakers to help set up. After church we went to Trippers and watched the second game. Even though the game was a blowout, I still enjoyed spending time with him. We finished the night by heading home and playing cards.

He and I haven't seen each other as often this past year as I would have liked. By sharing March madness as a tradition it was a good excuse to make seeing each other a priority. When he and his brother were younger, we made it a tradition to get root beer floats at A&W when they would come to visit. I remember when my parents would take Vince and I out for root beer floats and it was a great time and I wanted to pass that along to them. As he's gotten older we now have our new basketball tradition. It's really fun to hear his enthusiasm for college basketball. It gives us something to share and I appreciate that. It's nice to know that we have at least one weekend a year set aside regardless of how the rest of the year is going. I look forward to watching many more games with him in the future.