THE NOTE CARD

I have lists everywhere of items I need to buy, phone calls to make, things to do and not to do, and reminders for my forgetful chemo brain.  Most of the time the scraps of paper end up in the bottom of my purse never to be thought about again.  Whenever I find one of them I always smile thinking about my Dad and his amazing index card.

My Dad's mind was constantly whirling and so he would write down his never ending thoughts and put them in his pocket.  Whenever my Mom would do the laundry she would find all of his tattered notes.  As a teenage boy growing up in Long Island, New York he jotted down the things he hoped to accomplish in the years to come.  He wanted to play basketball in high school and college, become an assistant coach then obtain a head coaching position, win a big game in Madison Square Garden, and finally cut down the nets after winning a National Championship.  He did not just wish and pray these things would come true but he worked hard everyday to make his dreams become a reality.  He carried his list on a note card to serve as a tangible reminder of where he was headed. 

In 1983, my Dad lead his underdog North Carolina State Wolfpack to the NCAA title game and was able to cut down the nets.  My Mom took my sister and I out to the concessions because she could not stand to watch the last seconds of a close game.  We never actually saw my Dad running around the court like a crazy person, but we relive that magical moment whenever we see replays of the game.  People still come up to me today and tell me where they were when Lorenzo Charles dunked in that last second shot.  At the age of 36, my father could take out his notecard and check off every single one of those goals...been there done that.  In my 38 years of living I have filled thousands of notecards with my musings but very few have ever come to pass.  Jim Valvano certainly serves as an example of the what can happen in our lives when we combine a personal vision with determination and passion. 

As a young girl, my Dad was my hero and I had no idea that in such a short amount of time my Superman would meet his kryptonite.

Cutting down the nets!!!