The Masters

A few years ago the Augusta National instituted the Junior Pass. This allows one child 8 years to maybe 15 to go to the tournament with a badge owner. Lucky for us, Nelson's dad has had tickets to the tournament for a very long time and was eager to take each of his grandchildren to the tournament the year they turned eight.

This was Dawson's year and Sunday was his day. Like my other kids, the first words when we met him at the gate to exchange the tickets were about the things he got from the pro shop and what he ate from the concession stand. He also had a stack of Master's cups in a plastic bag which he proudly told us he had been dumpster diving to retrieve. Yep, we're that classy. He was proud to have garnered such valuable loot as a collector's plastic cup without paying a dime.

Upon further review the next day, we did discover that he also saw many famous golfers as well as got his picture taken in front of the clubhouse with his two grandfathers.

I love the tournament. It's the one week of the year I follow golf and get to marvel in the beauty of the course. However, over the last several years it has not escaped me that the most precious gift of all is seeing each of my children walk out of that gate beaming from ear to ear flanked by his two grandfathers.

What a spectacular memory for all of them. What a gift it is!