Get ready for cake shakes and hot dogs, the legendary Chicago-based chain Portillo’s is finally coming to West Michigan, new planning documents show....Read More
President Donald Trump said he would like to work with the new Democrat majority in Congress on a plan to give some illegal immigrants legal status. While Trump never used the word amnesty in an interview with CBS News’ Ross Douthat that aired on Sunday’s “60 Minutes,” he said many illegal immigrants who are working......Read More
Summary A group of Senate Republicans is urging the Senate Republican Conference to delay Senate leadership elections after the party’s major midterm defeat. After receiving support from enough senators to require a Senate Republican Conference meeting, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sent a letter to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton and Senate Majority leadership......Read More
Michigan State University head basketball coach Tom Izzo will hold a press conference to discuss the team's season so far and preview Tuesday's much-anticipated matchup against Duke in the Champions Classic....Read More
Daimler Truck's Oregon demos show how a Freightliner Cascadia's automatic emergency braking responds when dummy cars suddenly cross a moving truck's path....Read More
Actor and comedian Russell Brand has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison after a weeks-long trial in a United Kingdom courtroom in which he was found guilty on charges of rape and sexual assault....Read More
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Tyler Robinson's trial date ruling comes Monday as prosecutors and defense clash over timelines in the Charlie Kirk assassination case....Read More
A single-car crash on I-96 east of Portland Sunday resulted in five people being brought to the hospital with serious injuries, Ionia County deputies say. ...Read More
This fall, when our senior softball season ended, a league-wide email went out, announcing the beginning of winter bowling league.It seems the softball guys like to have these extracurricular activities available year-round.Last summer, on my softball team, I heard a guy tell the coach he would miss the next week’s game because 'I gotta drive my missus to her cancer treatments.'The reason seems to be: They have families. And they’re committed to their families. They are good family men.Which means they also get bored with their families. They get tired of their wives, and their kids, and their relatives. They can’t putter around in their tool sheds forever; they need to spend some time with their boys.So they form sports leagues: softball, bowling, whatever. Or they join fraternal organizations: the Knights of Columbus, the Elks Lodge.In short, they need to get out of the house. And they need to do it regularly, for the health and sanity of themselves and their loved ones.The last of the old guardThe guys in my softball league range in age from 60 to 85. They are Boomers. These men might be the last generation that consciously organize their lives in this way.The generations that followed have a different solution to getting bored with your wife and needing some space. They call it “divorce.” Or “conscious uncoupling.” After which, they “co-parent.” Or they never get married in the first place.Society and popular culture have discouraged Gen X and Millennials from taking their wedding vows too seriously. Being married today is almost considered a temporary arrangement. Hence the idea of “starter marriages.”Everyone likes to criticize the Boomers, for their self-centeredness and lack of sympathy for the hardships of the generations that came after.But one thing Boomers got right is they know how to create families and maintain them.Serious businessThe Boomer generation took marriage seriously. They entered into it early, while still young and malleable — and when being part of a family was still fresh in their experience.They married people who shared their basic values, who lived where they lived, who went to the same schools and churches.When they had children, their parents, friends, and relatives helped raise them.And they went all in. Your wife wasn’t just your sexual partner for a few years. She was your flesh and blood. She was the cornerstone of your life.Acts of loveLast summer, on my softball team, I heard a guy tell the coach he would miss the next week’s game because “I gotta drive my missus to her cancer treatments.”Probably someone else could drive her. A friend. An adult child. But he would do it himself — of course he would — because he was the husband and she was the wife.I’m guessing this is how they have lived their whole lives. It wasn’t a question of loyalty. That was decided decades ago. This was a matter of who is the person who is closest to you. Who has been with you through everything else and will stay with you to the end.Trendy condosNowadays, a typical excuse to escape such commitment is: “We grew apart.” But there’s no such thing in a real family.Sure, people change. Sometimes they change a lot. But fundamental relationships don’t change. Do you grow apart from your parents? From your siblings? From your dog?How much do you have to change so that your cousin is no longer your cousin?It sounds reasonable that you could grow apart from your third wife if she wants to study Thai massage in New Mexico.But you don’t “grow apart” from real family. You’re stuck with them. Your wife is your wife. She’s not your girlfriend.RELATED: My parents ‘arranged my marriage’ at 16; maybe I should have taken them up on it Harold M. Lambert/Getty ImagesGen X and beyondI feel like my age group was the beginning of the end of this way of thinking. Ours was the first generation of no-fault divorce. Of older guys dumping their wives for women 20 years younger. Of women getting sick of picking up their husband’s socks and opting for a trendy condo, a corporate job, and the chance to meet someone new. Like they see women do on TV.Where’s the sign-up sheet?I’m not a big bowling guy. But I might sign up for winter bowling league. Because I like being around these Boomer guys. I look up to them. I admire their concepts of commitment and duty.How many younger men ever think about their “duty”? The word barely exists in their vocabulary.And I include myself in this group. I’m a Gen Xer, and society told me that marriage was a trap, a hindrance, a burden I would be foolish to take on. A family would prevent me from following my dreams. And I believed it.I’m not proud of that. But I can at least spend some time in the company of men who took the more selfless path and eventually reaped the rewards.When it’s my turn for my late-life medical treatments, I’ll probably be taking an Uber. And I won’t be the only one....Read More
Caleb Williams threw four interceptions in the Bears' win over the Buccaneers but vowed to keep throwing even if it means "100 picks" in one game....Read More
A viral Reddit thread captures users' scariest real-life experiences, from stalker encounters to plane turbulence that left flight crews in tears....Read More
Kenneth Genalo challenges lawmakers calling for ICE's abolition, saying they should change immigration law instead of demonizing federal agents....Read More
With no president, a retiring AD, and a $24 million buyout looming, Kyle Whittingham's Michigan tenure faces mounting dysfunction on all fronts....Read More
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