Harlem Globetrotters

As a young boy, the original Meadowlark Lemon / Curly O'Neal Harlem Globetrotters came to the Phillips 66 gym in Bartlesville, and entertained me and everyone in the sell-out crowd for what seemed like all night.  (I'd never been so tightly packed into anything like this before). It probably was only a few hours; but I did not want the night to end. The antics, the laughs, the incredible ball handling skills, the trick shots, the more laughs; it was all so much fun. Great family entertainment; so sorely lacking in today's world.

Fast forward 50 years, and I am at the BOK two Friday nights ago with 15 members of our family enjoying the latest rendition of the HG troupe.  The night was just as awesome.  We started the evening with a large family meal at Spaghetti Warehouse (meal was forgettable, but the companionship was superlative), as we also got to celebrate Ava's 10th birthday.

The evening performance by the HG was enjoyable from start to finish, and focused on the kids all night.  Special things were done for the children before, during, and after the game.  They had been in town all week doing civic and charitable work, and had another game scheduled at the BOK on Sunday afternoon.

Half time was a special group of kids doing "Thriller" (yes, that Thriller), and they did great.  Then there was a group of extra special 5-10 year olds (boys and girls) that go to this special basketball school to learn basketball skills, etc.  They too put on an amazing performance.  (They were not special as in mentally or physically retarded, they were special as in talent).

The sad part about the whole evening was the attendance.  There were less than 3,000 people at the event.  I knew going in that it was not going to be a sell out; but I never would have thought it would have been so poorly attended.

My grandkids LOVED the night as much as their Pappy.  I only hope that the next time they come to town that the crowd will be larger.  Children of today need nights of escape like this to make memories.  Memories that will last 50+ years, like they have with me.

Now THIS is what I call fun!

Mom's

My daughters are such good Moms.  The raven haired bombshell beauty with the killer smile on my left is Angela (35), who is Mom to Ava (10), and Emma (7).  The gorgeous blond with the killer smile on my right is Jackie (almost 37), (not to be confused with my wife), who is Mom to Will (9), and Owen (6).

That's me in the middle; shocker that I'm only 40 in this picture.  I am known to my daughters as Dad, Pappy, and "The Man In The Hat".  The last one is a moniker that just keeps popping up everywhere in my circles of influence; so I'll just go with it.

I had to dine alone a few weeks ago for dinner; and Chick-Fil-A was my location of choice (2 original sandwiches sans pickles, and a chocolate shake sans whipped cream) did me just fine for the evening.

I was surrounded by Moms.  And young children.  Seriously everywhere.  I do numbers; you know that.  While enjoying my food, I did analysis of numbers of course.  Pam would be have been figuring out what was going on in their lives; I just wanted to play with numbers...

Mom jeans #1 (30?) to my right had 2 daughters, both incredibly well behaved, like both of my daughters were.

Mom jeans #2 (35?) to my right, immediately in front of Mom jeans #1, had 4 sons (I am one of four sons), and 3 of the 4 were hanging from the ceiling, the window, and the underside of the table.  1 of them was obedient, and he was the darling of his Momma's eye.  He reminded me of Will.  

Mom (professionally dressed) #3 (27?) directly in front of me had 1 son and 1 daughter, neither older than 3, and this young Mom was super stressed.  She must have had a challenging day at work.

Mom (also professionally dressed) #4 (30?) directly behind Mom jeans #2, and 2 sons, and 1 daughter; and they were continually hitting and running from playground to food, food to playground, and playground to food.  The Mom never looked up from her texts the entire time I was there.  The daughter was boss Mom (like Ava), and was doing her best to make sure her siblings ate while playing.

Mom (also professionally dressed) #5 (40?) sitting behind me had 1 teenage son.  This son was quite engaging, and I heard him talking to his Mom during the whole meal.  He reminded me of Owen.

Mom (shabby dressed) #6 (45?) had a big table pushed end to end, with 6! children (3 boys, and 3 girls) crowded around the table.  I can't imagine trying to corral 6! children (ages 2 to 12) in a place like this.  2 of the 6 were ADD, 2 of the 6 were quiet as church mice, and 2 of the 6 were constantly in a state of fighting with each other.  This Mom looked stressed beyond her years.  Her Emma though is the only child that made her smile, as she whispered things into her Mom's ear a few times that only her Mom could hear.

My analysis determined:

1) Where were the Dad's?  None of these 6 families had a Dad present.  Were they still at work?  It was 6:30.  Or, quite possibly, were these all single Mom's?  Or both?  Since the divorce rate in the USA is now at 70%, that means that 4 of these 6 were probably single Moms; a sad-sad situation.

2) These 6 families had a total of 18 children for an average of 3.  Throw out the high of 6, and the low of 1, remainder of 11 into 4 leaves 2.75 as a mean.  My sample group was not large enough, or we might have had the national average of 2.4, though there were 30 other families (minimum) with children that I did not process by evaluation.

3) That I was (and am) thankful that Pam never worked outside the home while we were raising our daughters.  And, that neither of my daughters have worked outside the home either by raising their sons and daughters. 

I understand that most Moms have to work in today's world, especially the single Mom's.  Which is another thing that I am so thankful for; my daughter's marriages.  Jackie is rocking along at 15 years, and Angela has clocked in at 10 years and counting.

I love you girls.  Thanks for being such great Moms to my grandkids.  I probably don't say it enough like I used to all the time when you were younger.  But, I am so very proud of you. 

I love you each with all my heart.

I am a blessed man.