Wolfpack Family,
Ok - I will join in the fun and blessing this has been! From 1993-97 I was an assistant on Coach Yow's staff. During my 2nd year I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 25...a relatively easily treatable disease. It was Coach Yow who drove me to the doctor consultation and sat in the appointment with me to hear the diagnosis for the first time . It was also Coach Yow and Stephanie that were my only visitors during my 5 day hospital stay in isolation for radiation treatment. For this and about a million other reasons I'm grateful for this woman's impact on my life.
But, as I've thought about Coach Yow so much in the past few years, and reconnected with all of you in 2007, I'm burdened that she never intended her impact to stop at just our lives. Rather, I believe she hopes and prays for an eternal legacy lived out in each of us. As I think of the analogy of a the ripples a pebble can cause, she is the pebble, and we are fortunate enough to be the first ripples. But we all have the opportunity to further impact by passing on the valuable lessons of faith, life, love, and basketball that she has shared with us.
In the years since I've been at NC State, I've had the opportunity to coach, mentor, and disciple many young people. One recent college grad I've discipled for several years has been so impacted by lessons and stories I've shared about Coach Yow that she is writing her a thank you note...thanking her for impacting my life, which has in turn impacted hers. It strikes me that Coach Yow might be very blessed to know names and stories from those 2nd and 3rd and 4th levels of ripples. If some of those you've been forunate enough to impact are willing to participate, it might really bless Coach Yow to know her legacy has grown beyond her immediate Wolfpack Family.
I will join you in prayer on the west coast! I'm certainly hoping to be with you all in February!___
Jen Shinn