Jim Valvano: He twice taught us to never give up

By Lynn R. Mitchell

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” -Jim Valvano

This time of year — March Madness — always makes me think about Jim Valvano with his NC State Cinderella team in 1983, and his inspirational words just weeks before his death ten years later.

It was April 1983, and my then-boyfriend now-husband and I were on the mountain roads of western Virginia driving back to Richmond after a ski weekend with friends at Snowshoe Ski Resort in West Virginia. We had enjoyed hitting the slopes, some of our group skiing in shorts as we soaked in the warm sunshine and uniqueness of spring on the mountain, but the weekend was over and we were headed home and back to work on Monday.

‘Don’t give up … don’t ever give up!’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The Jimmy V Men’s Basketball Classic is being played tonight in Madison Square Garden, a tradition that benefits the “V Foundation” the supports cancer research. It honors the late Coach Jimmy Valvano (1946-1993). Diagnosed with cancer at the age of 46, two months before his death he gave the ESPY speech with the inspirational words, “Don’t give up … don’t ever give up!”