If you know anything about me, you know that family is a big part of my life. Growing up, my siblings and I always got along really well. With all four of us being born within five years, it meant that like it or not, we had to be in each other’s lives. I know families with kids that were close in age, but always fought growing up. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for us. A huge part of that had to do with how our parents raised us, but another part was that we all just generally enjoyed being around one another. We were all each other’s best friends. Sure we had our disagreements from time to time and beat up on each other in whatever sports we were playing. For the most part though, we got along.
As we have gotten older and all of us have moved all across the country (Nick – Seattle, Tim – Dayton, Ashley – Phoenix) and the world (Me – Cyprus), things still haven’t changed. We all talk with each other every day. In fact, we have a family group text that we talk in constantly. Being that close with one another is all I have ever known and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Even though we all talk every day, it still can be difficult not seeing each other consistently. With Lexi and I living on the other side of the world for the majority of the year, it is obviously very tough to see one another. Thank God for technology and being able to stay in contact, but as you all know, it is not the same as being in person with one another.
Since I started playing basketball overseas, we have wanted nothing more than to have family come out and visit, but we could never get the timing right.
In my first year, I left a team mid-season and went to a different team in a different country, so my family didn’t know how/what to plan for. Plus, my season was cut short because of Covid. In my second year, the Covid restrictions were so strict that there was no way they could travel abroad. However, this year we were hoping that we could change that. When I signed with a team in Greece in the summer, my family was really excited because like most people, it is a dream destination to visit. Unfortunately though, within three months of us being out here, I had ended up in a different country and on my third team, so understandably, my family didn’t know how to plan for it.
Or so I thought.
It turns out that my brother, Nick, had planned for months to come out here and surprise me in Cyprus. My wife, Lexi, was in on it and they planned the whole thing together.
As I went to bed a couple of weeks ago, I had set my alarm for 5am to get up and watch my youngest brother, Tim, play in his Conference Championship game for a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament.
When I woke up, I took out our dog as usual and when I came upstairs into our apartment, to my surprise, Nick was sitting on the couch! I was at a loss for words. To be honest, I thought I was hallucinating.
Turns out he got in a few hours earlier and Lexi snuck him into the other bedroom. I couldn’t believe they pulled that off without me finding out. It was incredible.
So, what we did next was what we would always do. We turned on our other brother’s game to support him. To our amazement, they won the championship and made the NCAA tourney!
I was so excited for Tim because playing in the NCAA Tournament was something all of us dreamt of as kids. Now he was getting the chance to experience it first hand. On top of that, I was able to experience it with Nick sitting right on the couch next to me. It was an amazing morning and it happened all before 7am!
During Nick’s stay, we were able to show him all of our favorite places we have discovered since being out here. From our favorite restaurants to seeing the beach, and he even got a chance to see one of my games. The weather wasn’t as warm as we would have hoped, but that is just us being picky.
It was a great week and something I will always cherish. It didn’t seem like we did anything out of the ordinary when he was here, but just being able to be around some family and show him our home was great.
Now that he has been home for a little over a week, I have had time to reflect on him being here and what it meant to me. There have been difficult times this year for Lexi and me, but it just puts it into perspective that family is everything. For me, spending time with the ones you love is what brings true joy into my life. No amount of money or possession could ever top that.
Don’t take for granted anything you have in life. Spend time with the ones you love and do what you can to help make a difference in someone else’s life.
That is where the true joy is.
God Bless.
Michael
P.S.
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