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#believeland

Dear LeBron:

Thank you for another great year of basketball. Despite The Finals outcome, you have once again proven that your hard work and determination can almost singlehandedly take a team all the way to a championship. It was fun to watch and made me proud to be a fan of the Cavs (and Cleveland sports in general).

As you embark on what may be your last chapter of your career, I can only hope that you elect to stay in Cleveland. I know your relationship with the owner isn’t the best but I hope you both can set that aside and continue to build and develop a team rather than see you go join a stacked team like KD did with those dirty warriors in the West.

I know praying that you stay is a selfish ask but you of all people know what sports means to the people of Northeast Ohio. Die hard fans that don’t ride the band wagon of winning. Rather they stick with teams throughout decades of losses and a multitude of “The” events (The Fumble, The Shot, The Decision, etc) that have shaped generations of Ohioans who still keep hope in their hearts that one day our town may see a dynasty of winning to rival the greatness of what the cities of Chicago, LA and Boston have enjoyed.

If you do decide to leave, I will understand and still applaud you in whatever land you play. Your ability to play the game of basketball is like no other and the impact you make in the league should be respected. I also know that in your heart the city of Akron, Cleveland and all of NEO will remain important to you, your family and your foundation. The amount that you have given back and will continue give back should also not be forgotten by all the fans in CLE if you leave. Life is more than just the game you play and you have proven this on so many levels.

Love,
The Connecticut Mikolay’s

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Making memories…

I remember growing up that my Dad always took my brothers and I fishing with his friends and their kids. We went fishing locally to farm ponds, lakes and we also ventured out to fish from boats either out on Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and even way up in Canada.

I remember each of those trips for the fun I had with my dad, my brothers and the other people we went fishing with. I don’t think we caught fish every time but just being with friends and family was the connection that made it so special.

My kids were bitten by the fishing bug and we’ve spent some time both last summer and again this summer out on the water together seeking fish.

This past weekend, my friend Russ, his two boys, Carter and myself all ventured out on Long Island Sound with the infamous “Captain Pete” in search of Striped Bass and other various species. We were rewarded with a beautiful weather, a boatload of fish and a ton of memories that I hope my son remembers for a long time.

I’m blessed to have great friends like my father did, the means to be able to carry on the tradition my father started and three amazing children that appear to like spending time with me. I hope my kids remember these memories and help their kids make there own moments and memories sometime down the road!

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Flying

I always promised myself that I wouldn’t push my kids into aviation. I want them to find their passion just like I did growing up. Sure, they know what I do and the subject comes up regularly but I’ve always felt that if they want to do what I do, they need to initiate the steps to make it happen.

My kids love to travel and they have been on plenty of airliners as we typically use that mode of travel to get back and forth to Ohio. They also seem to be genuinely interested in the business aviation side of the industry that I live in.

It seems that this summer saw a marked change in interest after we visited the New England Air Museum as a family. They loved seeing all the old planes, flying the simulators and generally just being around aircraft. Seeing their enthusiasm, I brought home a flight simulator control system from work and set up the X-Plane flight simulator program on the computer which is the modern day “Flight Sim” that I grew up using.

To say that they are addicted is an understatement. They each get 30 minutes of computer time per day and they are choosing to fly every single day. In fact, Carter wakes up and flies first thing every day before breakfast.

With this new (and self found) enthusiasm, I did ask if anyone wanted to go flying in my company plane this weekend. Carter jumped at the opportunity and we just got home from a fun and exciting journey that took us over our town, a circle around the house and then a quick jaunt up to Hartford to drop it off for some regular maintenance work.

I think he has the aviation fever since I can see him reacting to the same things I did when I was his age. There isn’t a plane that flies over that we don’t stop, watch and discuss the model, where it is headed and what altitude we think it is cruising at. He even gives me nightly reports of what he saw during the school day outside at recess!

We shall see where this goes. I’d be thrilled if one or more of the kiddos take up aviation as a career. However, I’ll be happy if they simply find something that makes them happy and/or is something that they are passionate about. That love for something makes it very easy to get up and head to work each day!