Have you read Mitch Albom's Courage of Detroit article in SI?

If you haven't read The Courage of Detroit yet, you should. Read it at SI.com. For those of you have already read the article - take a second to vote in the poll and please continue to share your comments and thoughts. I'm really enjoying reading everything that people are saying about the article.

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I give a standing ovation to Mitch Albom's Sports Illustrated article

Wow. I just read Mitch Albom's new article over at SI.com, "The Courage of Detroit." As a native Michigander whose heart goes out to our entire state I just think he hit it right on the head. My favorite quote? "We are downtrodden, perhaps, but the most downtrodden optimists you will ever meet."

Yep, that sums up Detroit and the rest of the state quite nicely. I'd wear a shirt that says, "Welcome to Michigan, home of the most downtrodden optimists you will ever meet." I'd wear that like a badge of honor.

I'm proud of our state and the people that live, work, and die here. They're the type of people that make America great.

Do yourself a favor and read The Courage of Detroit. Heck, print it out and tack it to the wall or stick it to the fridge. Pass it on and share it with everyone you know.

Thanks to the heads up on the article by Big Al over at The Wayne Fontes Experience. He mainly covers the Lions, but other Michigan sports teams are also mentioned from time to time. He tells it like it is.

Eat Dinner as a Family

Mitch Albom has a great column from Sunday's Free Press on the advantages of families that eat dinner together. As a kid, the dinner table was where we talked about our day at school and learned that if you complained about how you had more vegetables on your plate than your sister you ended up getting another heaping spoonful. Families that have dinner together won't be without their trouble. However, I am willing to bet that a family that cares enough to make it a priority to eat dinner together is already ahead of most other families. It shows a commitment to the family instead of extra music or sports practices, or meetings you just couldn't say no to.

It is scary how busy families are these days with individual activities. We are so busy having "fun" that we have forgotten how to have fun without being busy. A fun and full life is not about how many different activities you can be involved in.

We recently had a missionary at our church that made a statement that has stuck with me. He was in Africa and one of the Africans laughed at him for wearing a watch. He said to the missionary, "In America, you have watches. In Africa, we have time."

Time. All the money in the world won't buy more when you realize you don't have much left.