Awash in the Miami Heat’s championship victory I took my two eldest kids Jonathan and Elena late last night on a journey that introduced them to a longtime family tradition: honking like a maniac on the streets of Hialeah. 

My late father, an almost lifelong resident of Hialeah, a man who personifies the blue collar street-wise work ethic of the place, would have been proud.  We could have celebrated that championship anywhere else in town but when it happened, when LeBron got his ring, I knew that going back to Hialeah was the place that would connect me with Papi. He last celebrated a championship there in 2003, when the Florida Marlins beat the Yankees to take the World Series.  My only regret is that I never joined him.  (more…)