I have kept journals off and on since the fifth grade. Those early journals were full of angst about cute boys in my class who didn’t notice me and trips I took with my family. I kept a journal the year I was sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome…and I wrote at length after 9/11. My journals have always been friends with whom I could share my innermost thoughts.

There is one journal I don’t have. It’s the one I kept in March and April of 1983 during the Wolfpack’s incredible run to the NCAA championship. I started keeping the journal because I wanted to document what it was like to be an NC State fan going through the experience. After State won, I read back over the 19 pages, and I could see my journal did what I’d hoped. It described what had been going on in North Carolina during the four weeks of the ACC and NCAA tournaments…..the unbridled joy, the huge bonfires on the Brickyard, and the deafening roar of 25,000 people screaming in delight after Lorenzo Charles’ game-winning dunk.

I don’t have the journal, because I sent it to Jim Valvano.

I didn’t think about it again until I came home from work one day in 1983 and found a package propped against my front door. The return address was Case Athletic Center at NC State. In the package was a red hardback book titled NC State 1983 National Championship. I couldn’t believe it. Who had sent me this wonderful book?

It turned out to be Coach V. “I can’t possibly write a 19-page letter but I can share this with you so you can relive the road to Albuquerque many times. Thank you for writing and expressing yourself so eloquently. My best, Jim V.” I stood there with tears in my eyes. He really read it! And it meant enough to him that he sent me a gift.

Jim Valvano died on April 28, 1993. I still miss his infectious laugh, hilarious stories, and spirited will to win. But I do have the book, and I will treasure it forever. It was worth giving up that journal.