Have I ever had a busy week — a good one but busy nevertheless.
My niece, Melissa Gould, is competing in the World Series of Softball here in Kalamazoo. She graduated from high school this year and will be heading to the University of Michigan in the fall.
Melissa plays second base, but her real specialty is running the bases and batting. To put it to you bluntly when she's on base she runs like a rabbit and thinks like a fox. Her overall high school batting average was just under .500. She's one heck of a ball player and a fine young lady. We're (the family) real proud of her.
Her team is looking good, too. They've won their games and are considered to be one of the serious contenders for the championship. Winning something like that would be a real honor. We're all hoping it turns out that way.
At the same time the games were going on our family celebrated my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. That's the sort of thing you really enjoy. It just puts you in a good mood. Let's face it, for a whole host of reasons very few couples ever make it to that point.
We had a big family get together on Saturday. It was outside. It rained all morning — hard — but then cleared off in the afternoon and evening. The only thing we had to deal with was the heat and humidity.
That's a small inconvenience for something like that, though. The things that mattered went just fine — family, good times, good food and the recognition that my parents made a family with each other for five decades.
That's no small thing. It's the kind of accomplishment that you appreciate more and more as the years go by in your life. It's a serious moral and spiritual commitment that deserves special recognition and a "Well done!" to both of them. We did our very best to give them that Saturday evening.
Of course, in between ball games and family celebrations I had to get my tackle ready for Oneida. I can't do that at the tournament site because I won't get there before Sunday afternoon, and I have things to do even then. That meant I had to get everything done before I left home.
After Sunday — I still have to do some filming for ESPN when I get to the tournament site — things should calm down for a few days. I can launch my boat and concentrate on just one thing — finding where the big bass in Oneida Lake are located. I'd like to do well there. I want to finish the regular season with a bang.
