Thought that this is worth sharing. The poem is by Terry Hoeppner who coached a few college football teams before he died of a brain tumor.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jimvalvanoespyaward.htm
I found the last things he said in the speech particularly powerful:
I also think this speech by Jim Valvano a few months before he died of cancer is also worth watching if you've never seen it.Don't Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow ‐‐
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out ‐‐
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit ‐‐
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jimvalvanoespyaward.htm
I found the last things he said in the speech particularly powerful:
I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I'm gonna say it again: Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.