louisville, kentucky is a place where basketball is an important part of life, and taking my son to an nba exhi*tion * is very special. little did i realize how special the *ning was going to be! it was a *ting winter cold that was blowing some mean wind, as josh held my hand as we crossed the kentucky fairgrounds parking lot headed for famous * hall. being eight years old, he still felt it was okay to hold his father's hand, and i felt grateful, knowing that these kind of moments would pass all too soon.the arena1 holds nine*-thousand-plus fans, and it definitely looked like a sellout as the masses gathered. we had been to many university of louisville basketball *s and *n a few university of kentucky *s in this hallowed hall, but the anticipation2 of seeing michael jordan and the chicago bulls against the washington bullets (with ex-university of louisville star felton spencer) made our pace across the massive parking lot seem like a quick one, with lots of speculation3 about how the * was going to go. the turnstile clicked and josh hung on to his souvenir ticket stub like he had just won the lottery4! clim*ng the ramps5 to the upper elevation6 seemed * an adventure than a chore, as we got to the upper-l*l seats of the "true" fans. before we knew it, the * was underway and the battle had begun. during a time out, we dashed for the mandatory7 hot dog and coke and trotted8 back so that we wouldn't miss a single lay up or jump shot. things were going as expected until halftime. i started to talk to some friends nearby when there was a tug9 on my sle*, my arm was pulled over by a determined10 young josh frager, and he began putting a multicolored, woven yarn11 bracelet12 around my wrist. it fit really well, and he was really focused intently as he carefully made a double square knot to keep it secure (those scouting13 skills really are handy). being a scout* with a lot of *age scouts14, i recognized the significance of the moment, and wanting him to be impressed with my insightful skills, i looked him squarely in the eyes, smiled the good smile, and told him proudly how i knew this was a "friendship bracelet" and said, "i guess this means we are friends." without missing a beat, his *g brown eyes looked me straight in the face, and he exclaimed, "we're * than friends, you're my dad!"
i don't *n remember the rest of the *.
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