 Wysłany: Śro 3:34, 11 Maj 2011 Temat postu: Montclair State shows heart of a champion |
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| Montclair State shows heart of a champion
For the first time since early that morning, the sun broke through the hazy, overcast sky, brightening the Long Island Rubber Bracelets lacrosse field below. Karen Greco looked up through the parting clouds, and felt more than the warmth on her face. She felt it in her heart.The final seconds of Montclair State’s conference-winning game over Farmingdale State were ticking away, and of this Karen was certain: John is here.The final seconds of Montclair State’s conference-winning game over Farmingdale State were ticking away, and of this Karen was certain: John is here. “Of course he’s here,” Karen recalled thinking. “I think it was his way of telling us he was here,Hydraulic Hose, that he was happy and proud of the team and the coaches. It was the best way he could help us, the best way he could help me, as if he said, ‘I’m OK and I want you to be OK too.’”Moments later, when the 9-7 score turned official and his Montclair players dissolved into a huddled heap of victory, Adam Torrisi Rubber Bracelets reached into his pocket and grabbed his cellphone. As if by reflex, he looked at the time: 2:55 p.m. And of this Adam was certain: John is here.“We both taught in middle school. My day ended first, and his ended at 2:55,” Adam said. “Every day at that time I was either calling him or he was calling me. I’ve felt that void every day. When I pulled out my phone and it was 2:55 on the minute, it totally blew me away.”That John Greco was not physically on the field for the NCAA tournament bid the Montclair team had just secured is a sad, heartbreaking fact. In November, while on vacation with Karen, his wife of almost four years, in St. Kitts, 33-year-old John Greco died of a heart attack.He left behind devastated family members, including his wife, his parents, Albert and Susan, and his siblings, Elizabeth and Robert.He left behind aching players and lonely students from the fields in Montclair to the classrooms in Clifton, where he taught technology and computers at Christopher Columbus Middle School.He left behind shattered friends, including his closest one, Adam, the buddy who once roamed the same Clifton High School halls as he and Karen and the assistant coach who would take over his job. But here’s the thing about John Greco. He is gone, but his spirit remains. His life ended far too soon, but his legacy continues. That is the byproduct of a life lived well, one full of joy and passion, of caring and dedication, of love.Of course he was there when the program he resuscitated from the ashes won a third straight Skyline Conference title. Just ask his dad. Albert Greco Rubber Bracelets was certain his son wouldn’t have missed it.“I had left a message for Adam before the game not to worry, that there would be a spirit out there kicking some butts,” Albert Greco said.The six months since John’s death have not been easy for Karen, who turns 33 this week. Sitting at the dining room table of the Clifton home she and John bought from his grandmother, grief passes through her small frame like the ocean’s waves, sometimes crashing with sound and fury, other times passing in low, soft ripples.“It’s not the big days you worry about or anticipate, the birthdays or holidays. It’s a random Monday and he’s not at dinner,” she says, the light overhead glinting off the small gold circle around her neck, a charm with the initials ‘JG’ engraved upon it. “I just expect him home. Some days, it’s been too long. I’ve suffered enough.”No one is meant to be a widow this young, to long for the days when you cuddle in bed with your husband and watch “Grey’s Anatomy” on the DVR, to ache for the chance to cook his favorite Italian meal, to deflate when you realize the car engine you hear is not him pulling into the driveway, to strain to remember the sound of his voice. Karen still pays John’s cellphone bill, just for the chance to dial into his voice mail. Topics related articles： Being a Flower Girl: Great for Kid, Bad for Mom 新建小区收费存疑 Nanoparticle Characterization System |
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