Champions!

You may have watched it or maybe looked up the score the next day, but Pitt beat Georgetown to win the Big East Tournament!

I got teary-eyed sometimes during the trip to NYC. Those times included walking on the streets of Manhattan...and also while they were playing the national anthem and announcing the starting lineups. I was just so happy to be there again for the tournament. It gave me a feeling of being normal. It's probably hard for most of you to understand, but feeling normal is no longer routine. But I was really happy. I owe a great deal of thanks to one of my best friends, Fish. Without him, I probably would not have gone to NYC for the game.

Back to the game...I was nervous the entire time. I guess I assumed Georgetown was better than they were. It was exciting, to say the least. In the end it all worked out in my favor (is that a sign of things to come???) ;-)

After the game, Fish and I stayed to see the trophy ceremonies and the cutting down of the net (a basketball tradition, for those who don't know, where each player and coach climbs a ladder and cuts off a piece of the net). While I was watching, I noticed another friend in the stands. It was a guy from my DC Pitt alumni club, Kevin. He was down lower than me and was shaking hands with some of the players.

When all the players had left the court, I circled around to Kevin. He was in the midst of happily telling his group of friends how one of the players gave him a piece of the net. He saw me and stopped his story. His transition:

"Hey everyone, I'm going to give this piece of the net to my buddy, Shawn, here." (And he told them why.)

I lost it. I couldn't even talk as I could no longer fight back my tears of joy. All I could do was get out a faint, "thank you" and give Kevin a hug. I even hugged his one friend who I didn't know.

I returned to Fish who was in the gift shop and told him the story of what just happened. He could see that I was crying, so he put his arm around me, too.

So many people are doing such great things for me, I can't even begin to thank people.

I'll leave you with one last thing...I won't turn down a hug whenever you see me. They really help me get through this. :'-)