cc: file, Mom, Sara and Des, Lloyd and Luana Warner, Darrell and Nancy Krueger, Charles and Diane Cluff, Tony Hafen, Claude and Katherine Warner, Forest and Amy Warner, Ivan and Chell Warner, and Eric and Renee Miner
"Well, from Houston, it was a pretty sad basketball game Saturday night. Can you believe after Olijawan put in that nice 3-pointer with 3 seconds on the shot clock, and then Charles Barkley put the 3-pointer in with 7 seconds to give a four point lead how the Utah Jazz were able to tie up the game with that lucky shot by Stockton and the two foul shots, and then win in overtime?
I have never had much of an interest in sports, or for that matter in taking time to play. However, as Marti has become an avid Houston Rockets fan I have really enjoyed watching the basketball games with her. Told her on Saturday I guess it would be ok with me which ever team won. She said, `Oh Roice, these are million dollar players, they have nothing to do with the church or Utah, they just play where they get the most money. And this is Houston!' As on so many things I'm sure she is right. But I guess if the Houston Rockets were going to loose again, I'm glad it was to a team from back up where I still consider home to be. I realize you kids do not look at Utah as any kind of home at this time. However, I would not be surprised if there is be a time when it might be more of a home to some of you than you now consider possible. As far as my example about playing, I hope you learn from my bad examples as well as my good examples. I hope you have learned to work, but I specifically hope you have learned how to play and enjoy those who mean a lot to you. I am sorry I have not done so well in this area of my life. I usually don't feel like I have missed much. But then there is not one of you kids I feel as close to as I would like to, and so I feel like I have missed six of the most important things of my life. As I spend time with Roice on Thursday evenings in Austin, I do feel like there is hope that there will be a reasonable relationship develop with each of you as you each get older. In the meantime, I am willing to learn how to play, if there is something you would enjoy doing that you think I might be semi-competent at (Note those with entrepreneurial tendencies prefer to not participate in games they can not have a pretty reasonable probability of winning at).
I remember when I was a Junior in High School we had the district championship basketball game in St. George, the Cedar High Redmen against the Dixie Flyers. There always has been a tremendous rivalry between these two schools (not just between Grandpa and Grandma Nelson). As I recall the game went into overtime and Cedar had the ball with a few seconds left. Coach Hobbs had them do a play where the ball was handed to a guard, who happened to be one of my best friends and the piano player in our band, Dale Hatch, who was given some special blocking by the forwards and center and went in for a layup to win the game. It was exciting! The game Saturday reminded me of that play and of that game back in 1967. I hope you each have some of those same kind of exciting, fun memories.
P.S. Uncle Tony, I'm sorry I spelled your name wrong! Thanks for the 4-wheeler cowboy philosophy, which I will post.
P.S.S. I got a really nice note with some very good advice via e-mail this week. It pointed out how the individual's father had sent xeroxed copies of a letter each week to all of his kids for years, and how much this individual had sometimes resented the letters because they were not personal. I hope to take a hint from this comment and to supplement these weekly thoughtlets with regular personal letters to each of you, telling you personally how much I love you and appreciate knowing you."