Images.
They hold power, memories, and pieces of an incredible story.
And you probably can't see them.
I can't not see them.
Seven years ago, in the LGI room we held a meeting. Ellen was the new volleyball coach at Kiski then, and we were meeting the team. That night Mr. Berberich uttered the words that would become our first mantra.
"It's about to get serious"...
That was an understatement.
The very next week, at our first open gym the doors flung open and in stepped Jaime Vick. She wanted to help...
We could never have imagined how much...
There is a place on the floor, which is usually covered by the bleachers on game night. It's where Jaime was showing an exercise, and where she first suspected something was wrong, and the place up in the very corner of the gym, right of the press box where she was projected, larger than life on the wall, from her hospital room at Jam the Gym 4 Jaime.
A bus pulled out from here, in the athletic circle. Before that bus reached its destination, 15 miles away at Franklin Regional, news would reach through a cell phone and change our lives. Ellen Toy had Gastric Cancer.
In this lobby, we gathered to sign volleyballs. First for our beloved Asst. Coach Jaime, and then for our lovely friend Jenna. A coach and an athlete gone way too soon.
Not long after, we met in the cafeteria, under the guise of a birthday celebration for Ellen. It was February 25th, 2013.
The real purpose was to tell the team that Ellen's Cancer had returned, and that Dan Clair and Maggie Jones would coach the following season. The team had become leery of these types of meetings. Who could blame them?
This year, Jam the Gym turns 5. We wish to make an image that lasts that night, as Dan hands the clipboard back to Ellen, and Ellen returns to our sideline. Please consider joining us that night. Help us wipe away some of these images, and replace them with one of victory.
Jam the Gym is September 3rd, starting at 5:30 with Ellen's return to coach against Plum, followed by a great college match featuring Point Park and Carlow. It promises to be an evening to remember!
