I recently learned that my precious granddaughters Ashley (5) and Ava (3) would join me and their dad on the St. Cloud gridiron for an upcoming Bulldog Homecoming football game.

Cory is one of the coaches. I get to be the world's oldest ball boy and my babies are scheduled to be the crown bearers for the Bulldog's Homecoming.

Both girls are particularly excited about being able to carry the crowns to midfield to present them to the new King and Queen of football for St. Cloud High School.

Ashley, who just turned five, raised and interesting question: "Why do they have a new King and Queen each year?" Good point Ashley. Probably not necessary, but then we've be missing out on a ton of distractions for the players not to mention a barrel of fun for the community… so let the crowning process continue!

Ava is the tom-boy of the two and has some serious thighs which would make her an excellent weightlifter, according to her dad, who is the Head Weight Lifting Coach at St. Cloud. Still, both are excited about donning their dresses to make the mid-field walk.

Homecoming is one of those annual events that every high school in the nation looks forward to each year. Everyone is excited except the coaches who have to deal with the distractions that it causes.

Still, Homecoming allows us to unite the past with the present. It allows us to remember those heroes of yesteryear while honoring the kids who are currently playing.

There's even a YouTube video that dates back to 1976 of St. Cloud High School's Homecoming Parade. Go figure. Some of the current player's parents and grandparents were probably in that parade.

One could make the argument that Homecoming allows us to come back to where our heart really is. It'll be nice for Ashley and Ava to look back on their mid-field jaunt and tell their children about it one day. If "parting is such sweet sorrow," said Shakespeare, then reuniting must offer reunion bliss.

Actually, Ava and Ashley will quickly learn as they grow older that Homecoming is not about Kings and Queens. Home is a place we grow up hoping to leave and then we spend the rest of our lives looking for an excuse to return. It's about football, floats, crown bearers and fun, not to mention tradition.

Like every other high school in the nation, St. Cloud, Florida will make much adieu about what many think is nothing. Yes, there is always some insanity involved with the annual Homecoming event, but there's a lot of tradition and fun involved as well.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, "We cannot always build on the future of our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." In some ways, that's what Homecoming helps to do, build and maintain a tradition.

Some would argue that football is not a contact sport but rather a collision sport. Well Homecoming allows for "the real contact sport, dancing," so said former Michigan State football coach Duffy Daugherty.

The other thing that Homecoming allows is for us to begin the long process of building old friends. You can't make old friends until you make new ones and Homecoming is one of those catalysts.

In my old high school in Lexington, SC, the senior football players got to sponsor their Homecoming Queen. I didn't even date the girl I selected but she won the Homecoming Queen as I recall. Thankfully, we didn't crown a King at our school. I can imagine how stupid I would look dressed in a football uniform with a crown on my head, but I digress.

Coach Mike Ditka might have described it best. "If you're not in the parade, you watch the parade. That's life."

My advice to Ava and Ashley, enjoy the parade and have some fun while you can, because your mom, Casey, is probably going to scoop you up as soon as your duties are complete to hustle you home to go to bed as it'll be well past your bedtime. That's life!