Growing up, Jimmy V was one of those inspirational figures I turned to when I was struggled. I’ve watched his ESPY speech more times than I can remember– yes, even more than the “I Like Turtles” video.
Jimmy V inspired me in my thinking and brought me to tears many times.
Below is a column I wrote my junior year of high school (back in the day, 2007). The writing isn’t phenomenal by any means, but I randomly re-read this story to see how I’ve developed as a writer and how much Jimmy V’s story has meant to me.
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Resist the G’s of the Season
As we enter another Christmas season, lets try to think before we fall into the four g’s of the season.
Give. Groan. Get. Gripe.
All too often, it seems we follow the trend of the four g’s. First, we all set out to find the gifts that we want to give our friends and relatives for the holidays. (Perhaps a teacher if they’ve been nice.)
Jimmy V's an inspiration figure for many, and The V Foundation has raised an enormous amount of money to further cancer research.
Shortly after finding gifts for friends – which could take much longer than expected— you begin to groan about the amazing amounts of money that you are spending. Odds are you might even begin to wonder if they’re worth it, because more likely than not, if they made you mad last week, it doesn’t matter how many times they’ve helped you in the past.
Soon there after, you reveal the present to your friend and see the joy in their eye for being considered highly enough to even receive such a gift. (This gleam in their eye could be fake, but it’s rather tough to conquer such a feat.)
Soon, you notice that they have a gift for you as well. Sure enough, it’s not that PS3 you were so desperately hoping for because you knew you wouldn’t get it from your parents. Although you play it off as though you love your new scarf, knitted with “love”, pretty soon you’ll be griping about how you didn’t get what you wanted.
Well kiddos, reality check. Life could be so much worse. Sure, you didn’t get what you wanted, but at least you have the gift of reasonable health and life.
Now I’m not Mother Theresa, and I’m not one to judge because, truth be told, I fall into the same selfish category.
It’s not until the beginning of December every year that I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be living without cancer. Former North Carolina State University basketball Coach Jimmy Valvano was a major advocate of cancer awareness. Valvano was diagnosed with Metastatic Adenocarcinoma, a terminal cancer, in June of 1992 and was told he had 12 months to live.
Instead of dwelling on the negative and just quitting, Valvano decided to fight cancer. Valvano spent the last ten months of his life trying to help bring attention to a disease that affects a vast majority. ( One out of ever four cancer patients has Metastatic Adenocarcinoma.)
Valvano received the Arthur Ashe Award for courage at the inaugural ESPY awards hosted by ESPN in 1993. In his speech that followed, he would unveil what would become his legacy: The V Foundation. Supported by ESPN, The V Foundation is a primary source of cancer research funding. To this date, over 60 million dollars has been raised for cancer research.
The catch phrase “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Continually rings through my head every time I want to give up on anything. Jimmy V’s story should be an inspiration for us all.
We have no excuse to complain about anything, when someone with terminal cancer was so selfless as to set up a program to help others who would otherwise succumb to his same disease. Although no cure has been found, I can’t wait for next year’s rendition of the Jimmy V Classic to pay tribute to the man who is an inspiration to many.
Rather than following the four g’s of the season, why not try a new trend this year? Make the best of the time you have on this earth, because you never know when it’s your time to go. Valvano said it best, “There are 86,400 seconds in a day. It’s up to you to decide what to do with them.”
