Jimmy V Foundation

The Jimmy V Classic basketball tournament is going on this week and it brings back a wonderful memory from 1993 in a speech that was given by Jim Valvano at the ESPN Espy awards. I've embedded it here for you to listen to. It's long. If you haven't heard it in its entirety please do so. If you have heard it, please listen to it again. You won't be disappointed. Not to spoil the ending but the final closing remarks from Jim were "Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all." He died less than 2 months later, less than 1 year after being diagnosed with bone cancer.

Chris and I listened to this speech on April 28, 2007, the 14th anniversary of Jim's death. We were driving to John's Hopkins and she was scheduled to have a chemo treatment that day. After listening, I of course was all teary eyed, but she looked at me and said that she knew how he felt and that she felt the same way. It just goes to show you how your outlook on life and everything around you changes when cancer takes over. Not only the individual, but all those around them too. The thing to remember is to keep a positive attitude and live each and every minute of your life to it's absolute fullest.