[JRutledge]

There is a long-time poster that just lost his dad and I want to first publicly give my support to that individual who I respect a lot and love to hear from on this site (he knows who he is) as I did for him on Facebook. I know what it is like to lose a father and it is not easy, but it gets easier but the memories never fade. My prayers go out to your family in this tough time and I am sure he will be missed by you as well as the lives he touched in his works.

I also had two brothers that are friends of mine who lost their mother. One was a three time state final official and the other will probably get there this year. After working in a tournament on December 30th, the older brother with many friends went out to eat and had a wonderful time. This person got to meet my mother who loves to come to many of my games during this time of year, the next night his mother died suddenly.

A day later I lost one of my biggest mentors or fans as he died on New Year's Eve. Then on Monday many in Chicago area lost a big time assignor that helped many of us get our first varsity games and he gave me one of my biggest games at the very beginning when I moved to the Chicago area.

I had to attend two funerals, both exactly a week apart on the first Thursdays of the year for people that meant a lot to me and many other officials across the state of Illinois if you knew them.

My point is this officiating thing is wonderful and I love every minute I spend doing it. But the relationships mean more and as we get all excited about the games and the situations and calls, put in perspective that our families and friends mean more. I will forget the games, but I will not forget the people I have come in contact with that make this fun overall.

God Bless to all and have a great rest of the season. That is all.

Peace