RFL- 4th of July

RFL. Rocky Fork Lake. Every 4th of July we head here to meet up with our family for a weekend of boating, eating, drinking, yard game playing, and of course celebrating America.

The crazy thing is that for a couple of days we pack near 17-19 people, 5 dogs, and now one baby into our cabin. These 17-19 people see each other mainly 2 times a year (aside from the family wedding etc..). We are cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc... and we love being around each other. We can't get enough. I used to think that the mystique around the lake and the 4th of july was all the "things" we did. It's not. It's the people. It's picking up conversations we put on hold for 6 months. It's sharing what has happened and genuinely caring. The funny thing is we are so close, but physically so far. Our family is spread out by states, hours, and/or cities but are closer than most cousins I know.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter if you live in the same city, state, or time zone. If you care about each other you are going to be close. I have friends that live minutes from their cousins, and they don't say two words to each other when they are together. It blows my mind. Maybe we're unique and it's the magic of the lake, but I like to think it's because we're a family that cares about each others lives. So happy 4th to all of you, and if you're with your family, take the time to care about what is going on in their life.

Lebron.

One year in college my roommate asked me if I was interested in going to Toledo and watching a high school basketball tournament game. Typically I would turn this offer down, however, this game featured an up an coming star, Lebron James. At this point we knew very little of this kid. When we arrived at the University of Toledo apparently thousands of others had a similar interest in young 23. It was crazy packed, wall to wall people. We grabbed our seats and watched what I will now refer to as, "the most entertaining pre-game ever". On one side of the court you had an entire team full of white boys doing two line layups, slapping the floor for defensive slides, and a stoic look on their faces. On the other side were a group of brothers that were throwing alley oops, shooting half court shots, and dancing. Two approaches to the game, two very different starts.

As the ball was about to be thrown into the air for the Tip, I kept counting the number of players and the result was 9. There should be a total of 10. So I started to scan the floor when I found the missing tenth player, Lebron James. While his team was getting ready to play he was off in the corner dancing with his mom....yes his mom. Gloria James, all decked out in her 'Bron jersey was bopping back and forth, Lebron weaving and dipping with his back to the game that has now started. The school ( I can't remember who it was, some catholic school) started with an easy bucket to go up 2-0. Lebron now must have gotten tired of dancing and decided to join the game. St. Vincent St. Mary's went down and missed a shot, without Lebron touching the ball. The catholic team went back down, scored again, 4-0. By this time the crowd is going absolutely bananas. The Lebron watchers are wondering what is going on, it's been 4 possessions and the KING hasn't even touched the ball. St. Mary's comes down, misses another shot, still no Lebron sighting. The catholic school takes the ball back down the floor, scores, 6-0. The crowd is pulling their hair out they are so excited. They make the fans from the film Hoosiers look like boring enthusiasts.

The King decides it's time.

Calling for the ball, Lebron dribbles to the top of the key, stares down the pour little white kid clinging to the false hope that is his 6-0 lead. With a couple dribbles Lebron blows past the kid and throws down a rim shaking dunk that sends the crazies into a T.V. mute style sound. He calmly looks at the student shaking that was just questioning his royalty status and raises a finger to his mouth with a "ssshhhhhhhh" .

The score at the half. Akron S.V.S.M - 36 - catholic school - 6.

Lebron decided it was time to end the doubt. I wonder what day in July Lebron will hold his finger up to the rest of the NBA and send one group of fans into mass hysteria.

Expeditiously

I started to write a long blog about how much I hate smoking. I deleted all of it. That argument falls on deaf ears. So I'll summarize. I saw a sign the other day offering free pack of cigg's with the purchase of 3. I got super angry. If I had a sign that said buy 3 asbestos inhalers, get one free, who would actually purchase it? Breathing asbestos would kill you right? Yet getting a free pack of smokes is a fantastic deal. I'll never wrap my head around the simple fact that the government allows the sale of something that is proven to kill you, and people will spend their last paycheck on it. This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from a great movie.