Our responsibility as parents is to make them feel better and comfort them. You didn’t want to shake my hand or give me a hug 15 minutes ago. I was filled with the pasta and chicken that sat in B’s stomach for just a few short hours. B threw up and he silently walked into the room to let me know what was up.

The blankets and sheets were filled with orange vomit and his stomach was in pain. The job at hand was simple. It was to change the linen, comfort the stomach and do it without momma finding out. Women make such a big deal of these things. She would be talking loud trying to find out what was wrong with B.

I silently did the clean up, found more sheets and a temporary blanket and acted like The Cleaner in Pulp Fiction. My job as a parent is not to become upset. My job is to make it right in the same way a plumber clears your pipes. When Celine was a baby she had a really bad stomach. I used to fix her up in the middle of the night while looking at her pleading face to make things better.

I did and there was no better satisfaction than to see a smile on her face or to see her go fast asleep.

“Thank you dad,” B said as his head hit the pillow.

No problem son. That is my job.

She plays for Waza East and her team plays rival Vardar in the quarterfinals of the State Cup in Saginaw. There is a rivalry between the two clubs but we have yet to witness it since this is the first time they’ve played since Celine joined the team this season. More fuel was added to the fire when four girls left Vardar to play with Celine and her pal Sami who left the Force.

Rivalry games are just different. There is more intensity. There seems to be more at stake and this is a huge game. The winner advances to the semifinals in East Lansing. Loser goes home.

I’ve tried to explain to Celine that rival games are more intense. She has to be more engaged at the beginning of the game and she has to beware of her surroundings at all times.  She sort of listens but does not really get it. I guess you never know about a rival until you actually play them.

I always wonder if out of state football players that play for Michigan or Michigan State are caught off guard the first time they play in that game. Players always say the hitting is a little harder. There is more barking and more intensity. It is the same for Michigan-Ohio State, Central Michigan-Western Michigan and other rival games.

I know Vardar is a great club. My son B plays for the Force and they beat just about everybody but Vardar.  They got stomped by Vardar in the finals of the Novi Jaguars tournament a

I am hoping for a good game and want to see everybody walk off the field in good spirits and in one piece.

She has worked in a large bar and restaurant for the past 10 years. When there are big events involving Detroit teams she picks up an extra shift to make extra money. She’s done it when Michigan State basketball was hot. She fed hungry customers during Pistons and Tigers playoff games. She made a ton of money during the Red Wings playoff runs, even when the economy was shaky.

She did the same thing Wednesday night. She went in to make some extra money for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Western Conference semifinals between the Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. It was not a good night for her. She was sent home after two hours and made $20 in tips.

This is not the first time I’ve heard this story. I talked to another bar owner and he sent wait staff home during the Red Wings game. He said that was unheard of around his place. But he said his bar was packed when Michigan made its run in the NCAA tournament. He is packed for Lion games and for Saturday afternoon college football.

I am not saying Hockey Town is dead but the vibe is not as electric as it was before. I will get to experience it first hand Saturday because my Tigers book signing at the Novi Tilted Kilt (noon-2 pm) coincides with the opening face off of Game 2 of the series in Chicago. Will there be an off crowd? I am curious to see.

There is just something different about this run. People are watching but not as much. People are excited but they are not as enthused as in past years. Mike Valenti and I have to beg people to call in about the Red Wings during the playoffs. This has never happened to us before.

Has anybody noticed? Or is it my imagination?

(Join me Saturday (noon-2pm) for a book signing and chat at the Novi Tilted Kilt in Fountain Walk. I will be selling and signing my book 100 Things Tiger Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. Books are $15 each or two for $25.)

That is exciting news and I want to thank you for your support. I wrote a few weeks ago that our beer distributor did not believe craft beer would sell well in Fraser. He was treating Macomb County like it was filled with country bumpkins. He recommended only one or two craft beers. I wanted six of the 13 wells to have craft beer.

We reached a compromise. We will have four craft beers and are deciding which ones to carry. I know one will be from Frankenmuth. We are deciding on the others. Thank you. We are scheduled to open in early June and the Smokehouse is located on 14 Mile Road and Utica in Fraser.

**  Thank you to the good folks at Buffalo Wild Wings for setting up a book tour for my book 100 Things Tiger Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. I love The Buffalo and we are in negotiations for another project that you will not believe. I cannot tell you about it now but if it happens you are going to say “No way Bro.”

They’ve been kind enough to invite me and Little B to some of the grand openings for Bagger Dave’s and make B feel like a big shot.

Any way here is the book tour schedule. I hope to see you to talk Tigers and Wings and sell a few books. Just to let you know I am not pocketing all the money. I am going to give some of the money to whatever charity my wife is running in the fall. The last time they bought back packs for inner city schools that could not afford them. The books are $15 each or two for $25.

If you are out of town and want a copy of the book then write me at Terry Foster, 25455 American Drive, Southfield, Mi. 48034. I will sign books and return.

Here is my schedule Buffalo Wild Wings schedule

May 21: Warren Buffalo Wild Wings (7:05 pm).

May 27: Ferndale Buffalo Wild Wings (7 pm)

June 5: Detroit Buffalo Wild Wings ( 7 pm)

June 10: Sterling Heights Buffalo Wild Wings (7 pm)

Nov. 19: Novi Buffalo Wild Wings (7 pm)

Here are other upcoming book signings

May 18: The Tilted Kilt Novi

May 24: 3 Nicks Taproom, Southgate

May 25: RUB Barbeque, Detroit

May 30: The Oak, Wyandotte

June 6: Troy Barnes and Nobles

His behavior is consistent with theirs. I’ve spoken to Young on several occasions and enjoyed talking to him. He was funny. He had odd ideas and he even guaranteed that Boise State would beat Michigan State in football. That all changed when Nate Burleson was injured last season. Young’s disposition changed and my sources told me that Burleson was holding him together and made sure Young stayed on his medication.

When Burleson had surgery he was no longer able to watch over Young. That is when many of Young’s problems began. And he went from a good interview to a bad interview. I know a guy who mentored Young. He told me many months ago that Young was the sweetest guy in the world when he was on his medication. When he wasn’t Young would clinch a fist and threaten to kick my friend’s ass.

Let me take you back to my childhood. Mrs. Nelson lived two doors down. She was the sweetest woman in the world. She baked cookies for us. We sat on her porch and talked to her. But a couple times a month she got off her meds and she went on these long tirades and threatened to kill her husband. The police always came to calm her down. Now was she evil or just mentally ill?

My Uncle James took us fishing. He took us to White Castle and he helped neighborhood men fix anything. But now and then he went on rants about how the white man did him wrong and how he wanted to kill them. When he was on his meds he loved everybody and even had white people over to his house. So was he evil or was he mentally ill?

Our society does not want to deal with mental illness. We brush it aside as people making excuses for bad behavior. That is the case sometimes. That is not the case with Titus Young.

Here is the skinny. We’ve applied for a liquor license with the state of Michigan and it appears as if it won’t be approved for another three weeks. So here is the call we made. The restaurant won’t open until the liquor license has been approved or is within days of being official.

We spoke with consultants who said if we open without a liquor license that most customers would be OK with it. They understand that things take time and that the main reason they would come in the first place is to try the food, which we hope wows them.  That will want to make people come back along with good service and watching me clown around the place.

However, if people come back a second time and there is no booze then many will assume we just won’t have booze. It becomes a turn off and they are less likely to return. Do you agree with that?

What we decided to do is wait until the license is ready to go. Good decision? Bad decision?

Oh by the way here is a sneak peak at the Foster logo. How do you like it?

The main selling part for Foster’s is it is a family restaurant where everybody can come and enjoy the food. We hope you love our bar-be-que dishes, pizza and they snuck in a fried cat fish dish on me that I have not tried. My fingers are crossed on that one. However, it will also be a sports bar where you can enjoy games on big screen televisions. There will also be a Golden Tee, darts and other games.

The place will not turn into a night club afterwards. I did not want to deal with the headaches that come with that.

So stay tuned. The restaurant will open. We want to be patient and do it right. Do you agree with the decision?

There is no pressure. There are not huge expectations. They can just let loose and play care free against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference semifinals. The series begins Wednesday and Saturday night in Chicago beginning at 10 pm. Oh wait a minute! That is not true. They will play at a normal time. The West coast late night stuff is a thing of the past. Good riddance.

Games Three and Four are at Joe Louis next Monday and Wednesday.

The Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 Sunday night to win the opening-round series in seven games.

This is the series I wanted to see from jump street. The Blackhawks are the elite team in the Western Conference and this is a great measuring stick for the Wings. There are a bunch of young guys on this roster that learned to play pressure hockey on the road and finish off must win games at home. Now the heat turns up another notch which is good.

The Wings might not survive this but they are sure to gain valuable experience for the future. I do not expect the Wings to pass this test, losing to the Blackhawks in six games. This is not about making a Stanley Cup run this year. It is positioning yourself to make runs in the future.

However, here is the great thing about hockey playoffs. They are filled with the “you just never know” factor. Sure, it is possible for the Wings to win. The regular season games were all close expect for one Blackhawks blow out. So there is always hope when a series begins. The thing I know is the young guys will be better when it is done and they will be battle tested for the future.

I don’t know about you guys but I am guilty as charged. I increase the stress because I enjoy participating in childhood games with the children. Abs is way more serious than me and she often says “you are worse than the kids.” Sometimes that is true but I warned her before we got married that the silly factor would be higher than she wanted.’

And that increased once Celine and B came along. I happen to think women are way too serious. They cannot take a joke and they get mad over silly stuff. I want laughter in the household. That is why I clown sometimes. The other thing is I sort of have two high profile jobs and I get yelled at and criticized by the public.

Sometimes when you come home you just want to forget everything else and relax. That is why I pat Abs on the ass like she is a football player. Or I might suplex one of the kids during a family meeting. We also do a thing called “lucky spot” where Celine, B and me try to establish position in the lucky spot and pull each other off it. Abs really hates when the lucky spot is our bed and she especially hates it when she is in bed next to the lucky spot.

Today, I promise to behave. It is Mother’s Day and will do everything in my power to have fun but not too much fun. The only problem is who can resist a good game of “Lucky Spot”? I know I can’t.

It is a big day for B. He was honored the other day for his volunteer work with special needs kids and his name appeared in an online paper called  The West Bloomfield Patch.

“Really,?” he screamed while running down the steps to see his name. “Where is it? Where is it?”

The boy was really happy and it got me to thinking back to my days when I covered high school sports. Were kids as excited to see their names in the paper when I wrote about them?

The boy is on fire for another reason. Brandon scored a goal Friday night during a hotly contested game between the Force and Novi Jaguars during the first game of the Jags Tournament. The Force ended up winning 3-2 and it was obviously an important moment in the game. Everybody was excited because B rarely scores. He is our big stay at home defenseman. He is Larry Murphy with a little bit more speed.

He is not the star of the team but he knows his role. He knows not to let people get by him and when the ball is in front of his net he boots the ball as forcefully out of bounds as he can. But the coach had B push up on a play. He zoomed in on a rebound and put it in the net.

It was a big moment but we are more proud that B wants to help kids with special needs. That is rare because B is just 11 years old. He’s a good guy.

They were crushing words but everybody understood. He has battled his heart condition for three years now and gets weaker by the day. Three days ago he wanted to give it the old college try one more time. But another bad day that landed him in the hospital again may have been the final blow.

It is funny. The vast majority of us fight for our lives every day. We want to go to Tiger games, be with our family and do every day chores. We want to live and will look for any miracle cure or medication that will keep us healthy. My aunt Margo was one of those people. She was strong, feisty and a very animated woman. She got stronger when someone challenged one of her family members.

That is why it was tough sitting next to her in her bedroom. She was weak and frail but she was still giving me commands that I carried out. She told me she loved me and was proud of me. Then she told me it was over for her. She no longer wanted to live. I brought the kids over to see her the following day. She went into a coma the next day.

I will always remember the smile on her face when she embraced Brandon and Celine for the final time. These were her “grand babies” and she loved them very much. Seeing them was the final present I gave to her.

Now I’ve seen two very strong people say “no mas” to life. Maybe it is true what they say, that death calls for you. I always wonder what is the deal breaker. What makes you want go walk to the other side?