Jennifer Karen Corkrey O'Hara
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March 11, 2009

If you are a real baseball fan, you know all about the Miracle Mets.  This was a nickname given to the 1969 New York Mets. The miracle was that the Mets who had never finished better than 9th place in a ten-team league won the World Series. But last year, the Miracle Mets struck again.  I’m not talking about the New York Mets.  I’m talking about the Central Loudoun Little League Mets coached by yours truly.

In reality, our team was pathetic.  I kept telling them that they were the most talented team I had ever coached.  What I didn’t tell them was that their talent didn’t include baseball.  Some of them could sing.  Some of them could tell funny stories.  Some of them had really good grades.  These are all great talents.  But only about half of them could actually play baseball.

So the 2008 Little League season began and the Mets began losing baseball games.  We would win a game, and then lose three games.  We would win another game and then lose four more games.  There were some games that were so bad, I would pray for a rainstorm to come and end the pain.  All during the season I kept telling our players that the regular season was just practice for the end-of-the-season tournament.  That seemed to make them feel better about the season, but the way things were going, I was sure the tournament would just be a continuation of the regular season.  So the 2008 Mets ended the season in next-to-last place. 

At this point, something interesting happened.  As we prepared to go into the tournament, I started hearing the kids talk about winning.  After a few days, I realized that they actually thought we were going to win a couple games.  In fact, I noticed that they were talking about the Championship Game.  Without knowing it, I had built hope in these kids.  They actually believed me when I said that we could compete in the tournament.  Now I was stuck.  Our chance of surviving the first game was slim to none.  But I didn’t want to deflate our team’s fledgling spirit, so I began telling them to play their very best…to give it everything they had.

Our first game was against the Rockies, and our kids played way over their heads…AND WE WON!  Then came the second game.  We were playing the Nationals.  We had played the Nats twice in the regular season, and both times they creamed us.  But our boys were determined to win.  We actually started pretty well.  We jumped into the lead right away.  But then we had a bad call at third base.  The call ended our momentum.  Because of the nature of the call, I went through the formality of entering a protest into the scorebook, but the damage was done.  Our boys were not able to bounce back, and we lost the game and we were out of the tournament.

After the game, I took our team to the ice cream store and bought them all cones.  I gave them a final Way To Gospeech and went home.  It had been a tough season.

Then the miracle began.

Later that night I received an email from the president of the league informing me that there would be a protest hearing.  To make a long story longer, the protest was upheld, and the Mets and the Nats would have to play again at the point of the protest.  I immediately sent out an email to our team telling them that we were still in the game.  When we met a few days later, the boys were on fire!  They were ready to play.  WE BEAT THE NATIONALS!  

Next up…The Marlins…and another miracle. We won!

Now we were in the Championship Blue-Gold Game.  I would like to be able to tell you that we won the Championship Game. That’s the way these stories are supposed to go.  However, the truth is that the Tigers creamed us.

But we didn’t care.  We made it to the Championship Game with a team of struggling boys who had hope.  It was a miracle season.  I have seen each one of these boys since that time, and each one of them always smiles when we talk about the Miracle Mets.  They will remember this season for the rest of their lives.

What’s the point?  It’s this.  I inadvertently built hope in this team.  I would like to say that this was strategic action on my part, but I didn’t realize what I had done until after it happened.  I kept telling the boys that the regular season was just practice for the tournament.  They thought I expected them to win the tournament.  So they played to that expectation.

Last Sunday, Rob Spradley taught us that Lasting Love Expects The Best.  He said, “People tend to live up to your expectations of them.  So, don’t tell it like it is, tell it like it could be.”
The Apostle Paul said, “Love never stops hoping.”  I Corinthians 13:7  (GW)

Well, baseball season is rolling around again.  Once again, I am coaching The Mets.  We have a new crop of players.  I think this may be the most talented team I have ever coached.

Blessings,
Coach Greg Wigfield

“I will show you my love forever.  So says the Lord who saves you.”  Isaiah 54:8 (TEV)


If you have missed any of the messages from the 40 Day of Love series, you can listen to the podcast at www.destinychurch.info.

P.S.  This devotional is part of a six-week spiritual journey of Destiny Church.  A super special "Thank You" to Tanya Burke for passing along this really nice story from her church.

2009, February 3, 2009 - Speeches - Jim Corkrey

For this assignment, I chose a speech “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up” given by Jimmy Valvano, head basketball coach at North Carolina State University. Valvano and his team won the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament.  This emotional speech was delivered to a live audience during the 1993 ESPY Awards shortly after he was diagnosed with bone cancer and just two months before his death (Wikipedia, 2009).My first impression of “Jimmy V”, as he was known, is that he is nervous and emotional, but professional.  He is crying.  His passion for his own life and his desire to help others is immediately apparent in his delivery and attitude.  His mood is full of gritty determination; his intentions are to give hope despite knowing that he only has a short time to live.  The purpose of his speech is to accept the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award and to announce the establishment of the V Foundation for Cancer Research (ESPN, 1993). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

During his inspirational speech, Mr. Valvano offered this touching advice:

“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” (ESPN, Valvano, 1993).

In Mr. Valvano’s speech his language is fluid and polished as one might expect from a television broadcaster and former coach.  His skills as a motivator certainly served him well during this speech; his ability to perform in front of a large audience shines through in this “performance.”

Jimmy V had more credibility than a room full of US Presidents.  In this speech, it showed.  He mentioned that he is not using cue cards, which signals to any audience that the words and emotions are coming directly from his heart.  His delivery comes across and honest and genuine (Pfeiffer, 2007, p.132).  It may be nearly impossible to find a human being that does not believe in the credibility of his passionate speech.

Resources

Wikipedia. (2009). Jimmy_Valvano. Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Valvano

ESPN. (1993). ESPY Awards [Television]. Bristol, CT: ESPN Original Entertainment.  Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

Pfeiffer, W.S. (2007). Pocket Guide to Technical Communications Fourth Edition.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

January 2009
 

6-19-2008

6-8-2008 

6-9-2008

Jim,

I sent this email to my family. My Mom has added Jenn to her prayer list at her church. We pray that everything improves for Jenn. As you know my daughter when thru 2 surgeries and she has been able to control her disease with a shunt and drugs. She has had many problems with her vision but everything has stabilized. Let’s pray that better times are around the corner for you, Jenn and your families.
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Dear Fellow Duffer,

My daughter has this same disease but she has recovered from her 2 surgeries without any of the problems that have affected Jenn. I know how painfully and debilitating this can be for the patient and their family. I plan to give and hope everyone will give something to help Jenn and her family. Thanks. Hack Stacey

Thanks so much Hack - your thoughts and efforts are greatly appreciated. Jim

June 6, 2008 by Katie Johnson

I don’t know how Jenn  makes it through each day!   I know we all have trials in this life to help us grow, but I have always prayed that my trial would not be to endure pain.  I think it would be hard to be a happy, positive, uplifting person in those kinds of conditions.  I believe I would give up.  But not Jenn!   I admire the strength she has had, and continues to have, as she faces each new  day.  What an amazingly strong person.  And despite what she is going through she still manages to continues to share her love by send everyone her cute hand -made cards, being a lovingly mentor, and supporting all her NA friends.  Jenn  has a heart big enough to save the world.  .   . and she would save everyone in the world if she could. 

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I hate the fact that I live so far away from Jenn!  Not only has she been my sister but always my Best Friend.  I have spent many hours talking to Jenn on the phone.   Most of the time I listen to “Calling On Angels” play in the background of her cell phone as I await in hopes she will answer her phone.  But most of the time I end up talking to myself, singing songs to her or  telling her my terrible jokes to try to keep her spirits up.  It is so hard to be so far away and not be able to do anything to help.  There are so many times I want to be there for her.   I want to be there for her to just hold her and cry with her.  Like the countless number of times, she has been to the ER in excruciating pain and the best they can do is to treat the symptoms.  Or, the 11 trips to the hospital knowing what she has to go through in hopes that, at best, the pain will be tolerable.  While the whole time you are crying from the depths of despair  to have enough  strength to get through  yet another  surgery.   It is one thing to go through surgery knowing that your life will be better afterwards, but how do you endure surgery after surgery when they tell you they do not have a cure for this disease that is destroying your life.  I cannot tell you of the heartbreak I feel when I hear my little sister say, “Kath, I don’t think I can do this anymore!”

IIH is a disease that steals one’s HOPE  & DREAMS.   Take those away and what do you have?   For Jenn it is still being able to share her LOVE.    Nothing can destroy her BIG HEART.  Not even IIH!

---my sincere apologies to Katie for misplacing this story for a few weeks.  I am sorry I did not get this up on the website earlier. xoxoxoxo Jimbo

6-8-2008 by G.C.

I remember my mom telling me a story or stories about my younger sister.  When she was 8 yr old, she had two surgeries on her eyes.

Remember my mom saying that she was so little and been in lots of pain after the surgeries. She told my mom that her little eyes are hurting her and she was crying cuz she couldnt see or play.

My mom was crying with her seeing her little daughter in huge pain. I think that she, my mom, was in bigger pain than my sister.

And then, after the second surgery the doctor said to my mom that is never gonna see better, it is just going to be worse. And when my mom saw the glasses that doctor prescribed to my  sister, my mom paniced.

Remember my mom crying many times trying to hide in front of everybody and saying that everything is OK. You KNOW ME AND I AM LIKE MY MOM. TRYING TO HIDE AND NOT TELL MY FEELINGS.  But I wanted to share with Jennifer that she should not give up hope.  My sister's eyes healed and maybe Jennifer's can too.  -submitted anonymously.  Thanks G.C. for your thoughts and story, we greatly appreciate your story. Jim

APRIL 7TH, 2008 

Dad, Da & Ron
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APRIL 6, 2008 - Jennifer's shunt detached from her stomach and she is back in the hospital in Redwood City.  She saw her doctor yesterday morning and she was making good progress in her recovery from pneumonia and then this comes along!!!

Last night she was getting ready for bed and she showed me a large, hard lump on her left side - we pretty much knew what it was; fluid leaking from the shunt.  We went to the ER in Terra Linda (San Rafael) and they did a CT scan that confirmed that the shunt was detached.  So they made arrangements to transport her to the hospital in Redwood City where her neurosurgeon is and where she has had her earlier surgeries.  She will probably have surgery on Monday - in the meantime she is getting good rest and care,  Brendan is with her and they have fixed up a place in Jennie's room for him to sleep.  She is in room 660. 

Love & God Bless - prayers please,

Dad, Da & Ron

APRIL 1, 2008 - Jennifer is home with me!!!  She was released this morning and we came home.  She is still recovering and will be for a week to 10 days.  Needless to say, she is very happy to be here instead of there  :o)

Love & God Bless,  Dad

MARCH 31 - Jennifer is still in the hospital.  She is much better than when she first went in but is still not well.  This evening she is going to have a CT scan of her lungs to determine the extent of the pneumonia remaining.  We walked around the corridor today and she gets up to go potty.  Her pain is not as bad as it was.  All-in-all she is on the road to recovery.  She is still getting anti-biotics and, of course, her regular medications.  They had to move her this morning because they needed the private room for a patient with chicken pox.

January 15th, 2008
Brother love is tough sometimes.  Oh she'll be alright.  Rub some dirt on it.  She's fakin' it.  Jennifer will get over it.  Hang in there. Be strong, you can do it.  Brother love is too tough sometimes.  I love Jennifer dearly and her disease has hit me like a ton of bricks.

It's not about me, but I had waited so long to really get involved.  I hoped it would be something quick, something easy for the doctors to just fix and then we could all move on.  It's NOT something quick or easy - in fact this IH has been torturous to my little sister.  Sure, I prayed and called and sent cards and gave my support the best I could.  Or did I?  I am ashamed that I did not get more involved and involved more deeply.

I am so grateful for the email from Jonathan Fong - it was a wakeup call for me.  Why was a person whom I didn't remember and someone outside my family willing to give so much time and effort to help Jenn and Bren?

Why was he willing to help financially and in other ways and yet no one in our family had devoted similar efforts.  I was also ashamed of that.  Obviously, Dad and Brendan (and others) have poured out their hearts, time, effort, money, and love to Jennifer.  Where was the entire Corkrey Calvary riding in to save the day and help?

Many years ago when Jennifer was choosing to make very bad decisions instead of being high on life - it tore me apart.  I thought she would die, no, I was convinced that I would be flying to California for her funeral.  Then, she came through the fog of denial and stopped heading down that dark dead end path.

She started a new life.  She found love and hope and joy.  She found Brendan and a job she (almost) loved.  Oh, I was so excited for her - she'd had so many big and little setbacks along the way.  Now, it was going great and she deserved it.

Then IH found her at the peak of her exciting new life - on her Honeymoon..... Back to dispair and depression seemed like the natural course of things.  Eighteen months of pain, surgeries, recovery, pain, cruel excitement and devastating disappointment at every turn.  So many people would ask, "How's Jennifer?"  My reply was always positive even when the news wasn't.

The glass was half full but the bottom of the glass had been missing for months and months.

Emergency rooms, misdiagnosis, tubes falling out, headaches, dizziness, pain.  DID I MENTION PAIN ?????  I don't know about your pain threshold, but I am one big _ _ssy when you compare me to Jenn's unbelievable will and determination.  Oh sure, she's wanted to quit and end it all to stop the suffering at times.  WHO WOULDN'T after 11 surgeries????  Each surgery brought false hope of a "cure."  There is no cure - hell, the medical community doesn't know the cause either.  Someday it will.

Finally, the 11th surgery with a shunt drilled into the skull.  I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but after two months - this just may be the light at the end of the tunnel we have hoped for all this time.  God Bless Jenn.  I love you - YOU give ME Hope!!!

 GIVE A GIFT

Good Morning My Favorite People!

I apologize for lack of communication about the memorial mass for Mom last Sunday.


Mom in Puerto Rico in 1990

It was very nice. They had mom's name on the wall- in her memory, (all the parishioners who died in the past year). Then at one point in the mass they read all the names on the wall, saying the name of the person one at a time, pausing with the ring of a bell, & then pausing. Then prayer of the faithful were said with WE REMEMBER, for example,

With the changing of the seasons, from spring to summer & fall to winter: WE REMEMBER - As our hearts hurt & we live each day in God's grace: WE REMEMBER As the holidays are near: WE REMEMBER - & so on…. Very nice. . .  & we do remember. There were nice songs sung by Dad & the choir, nice incense burning, (not the stinky kind). Lara, myself, Brendan, of course dad, & my friend Deja, her daughter Melanie, & her new husband Garrett also came. Then we all went back to the house & had some nice lunch.

It was a very moving mass & we all had a very difficult time not exploding in gut wrenching cries. It was just another reality that she has really gone home, her name on the wall, it was like take her name down off that wall, she should be here with us in the front pew, not having a mass said in her memory. But it was a very positive part of all of our healing. It was a nice feeling to know that she is remembered & not forgotten by the parish. I know for me, it is so important for me to talk about her, talk to her, keep her a live, keep her going, hold her in my heart, I am sure you have the same the same feeling. Let's talk!

I wish each of you could have been by there, we miss you & know that you too wish you could be here too. I have attached a copy of the card I sent on all of our half's to the church. I hope somehow some way each of you are feeling some healing in your heart.

Sending lots of love & hugs & kisses. Hope you are staying warm.
Send pictures! Send notes!
Love you,
Jennifer K. Corkrey