Tuff Love...

This past week I lost someone very special in my life, "Big Mike" was a friend and even like a father to me. I was blessed to have him in my life as he was my best friends father and my football coach. On the football field he taught us to be tenacious and tough, but in life he taught us to be respectful gentleman and loving. Him and his wife Sue took me into their home when I was 9 years old, it was a very difficult time for my mom and I, and at the time they were practically strangers to me who took me in as one of their own. I lived with them for the next year and half until my aunt could take me in. The year or so I spent under their roof taught me a lot about family and family values, this time I spent living with them and their intervention into my life was the rebuilding point in which my mom started her path to recovery, and ultimately forged the way for my mom and I to become a family unit again. These strangers went on to become my family, my mom and I consider everyone of their family our family till this day. From that football field that we met on some 20 years ago, a lot of things have happened, and as the world turns out in only godlike fashion today 20 years later I own a business with 2 of Big Mikes sons. We are still using the same skills of toughness and determination that we were taught playing football, just on another playing field. Keep your head down,keep driving, keep chopping your feet, get back up and hit them harder, these are the things we tell ourselves when we are against the grain in our adult lives. It blows my mind to look back at that 1 decision that Big Mike and Sue made by telling my mom she needed to get help and that they were taking me in until she got help, how much of my life's success has come from just that one simple heart full decision that they made after a football game 20 years ago. For that decision I will always be thankful!!! they say the world works in mysterious ways, and it is so neat to think that by making a positive decision to care or lend a hand to help some one how much it can affect the world moving forward and exponentially lead to good things in other peoples lives. Don't be afraid to help people who need help, after all it is a round world in which we live and all things do come back around. I wanted to share a few pics we found while gathering photos for his wake, most of these photos were taken in Southwest Philadelphia in the 1960's. My mom considered Big Mike a best friend until the day he left us…