Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Friend My name is Deborah, and I’m one of Ron’s many friends. Karen asked me to share about Ron from a biker’s point of view. At many memorial services, eulogies are sort of like fish stories. Mean people are suddenly remembered as good-natured, self-centered people as generous, sinners as saints. Positive traits are exaggerated, negative ones swept under the rug. But today, it’s not necessary to stretch the truth. With Ron, what you saw was what you got. He refused to play games with people, and he was adamant that he â€Å"didn’t have time for nonsense† like politics and petty disputes. What he DID have time for was people. He was amazingly attuned to other people’s feelings. In my case, Ron would always notice if I started getting tired and quiet while we were riding. He noticed before my husband of 30 years did—before I did myself!—and would invariably stroll over with a handful of Tootsie Roll Pops and pink bubble gum to give me a sugar shot. Once he discovered that I shared his enthusiasm over Tootsie Roll Pops, he always made sure to keep a big enough stash to â€Å"cover† me on trips. He was attuned in other ways as well. On group rides, I usually take the tailgunner position at the end of the pack, which means that I sometimes have to babysit unskilled riders who constantly speed up and slow down, or who fall back so far that the rest of the group vanishes from sight. I usually don’t mind, but now and then when somebody who should know better rides like that, it drives me crazy. Ron would always sense when I was getting frustrated, and at the next stop he’d say, â€Å"Why don’t I ride at the back for a while and give you a break?† He didn’t make a big deal out of it, but he helped keep rides fun for many of us. Ron was master of a thousand small kindnesses. He also took setbacks in stride, small and large ones alike. One time we were heading south toward Austin, and Ron and Karen were riding in front of me. Suddenly there was a small and colorful explosion on the road behind their bike. I looked down and saw pills--lots of little pills!--bouncing in every direction. Then two more explosions occurred, and this time I saw that the bottles were coming from their T-bag. Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy Eulogy for Friend My name is Deborah, and I’m one of Ron’s many friends. Karen asked me to share about Ron from a biker’s point of view. At many memorial services, eulogies are sort of like fish stories. Mean people are suddenly remembered as good-natured, self-centered people as generous, sinners as saints. Positive traits are exaggerated, negative ones swept under the rug. But today, it’s not necessary to stretch the truth. With Ron, what you saw was what you got. He refused to play games with people, and he was adamant that he â€Å"didn’t have time for nonsense† like politics and petty disputes. What he DID have time for was people. He was amazingly attuned to other people’s feelings. In my case, Ron would always notice if I started getting tired and quiet while we were riding. He noticed before my husband of 30 years did—before I did myself!—and would invariably stroll over with a handful of Tootsie Roll Pops and pink bubble gum to give me a sugar shot. Once he discovered that I shared his enthusiasm over Tootsie Roll Pops, he always made sure to keep a big enough stash to â€Å"cover† me on trips. He was attuned in other ways as well. On group rides, I usually take the tailgunner position at the end of the pack, which means that I sometimes have to babysit unskilled riders who constantly speed up and slow down, or who fall back so far that the rest of the group vanishes from sight. I usually don’t mind, but now and then when somebody who should know better rides like that, it drives me crazy. Ron would always sense when I was getting frustrated, and at the next stop he’d say, â€Å"Why don’t I ride at the back for a while and give you a break?† He didn’t make a big deal out of it, but he helped keep rides fun for many of us. Ron was master of a thousand small kindnesses. He also took setbacks in stride, small and large ones alike. One time we were heading south toward Austin, and Ron and Karen were riding in front of me. Suddenly there was a small and colorful explosion on the road behind their bike. I looked down and saw pills--lots of little pills!--bouncing in every direction. Then two more explosions occurred, and this time I saw that the bottles were coming from their T-bag.

A&P and Greasy Lake

Greasy Lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle and A&P by John Updike are both stories about coming of age. Over the generations there have been many changes. In these two short-stories it proves that, although it takes place in different generations, coming of age is still a time to prove one’s self. A&P is about a nineteen-year-old boy that works at a local grocery store. The main character, Sammy, stands up against his manager in an attempt to defend and hopefully impress the girls he was attracted to, who were not â€Å"decently dressed. Greasy Lake on the other hand is told from the narrator’s point of view, about several nineteen years old boys who play a prank on a â€Å"bad† character and experience what bad characters are capable of doing. For the narrator and Sammy they realize their lack of infantility after their conflicts with other people in the stories. In Sammy’s case, â€Å"enraged that Lengel has humiliated the girls†, he quits his job tryin g to defend and impress the girls. The girls just ignore Sammy and leave the store after all of the arguing had died down. Sammy is then left by himself, without a job and without the girls. When he looks back at the store from outside, â€Å"[his] stomach kind of fell as [he] felt how hard the world was going to be to [him] hereafter. † Obviously, he is feeling a sense of regret when Sammy mentions the hardship in his life after he quits his job at the grocery store. The narrator in Greasy Lake also learns a lesson for the story. He learns that one’s appearance does not represent one’s true self. Three of the â€Å"dangerous characters†, including the narrator and his friends, â€Å"drive out to scum-and refuse-clotted Greasy Lake in search for action. †

The One and The Only Jimmy Valvano Essay - 1015 Words

The One and The Only Jimmy Valvano â€Å"Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding†. These were the words that the late Jimmy Valvano gave to his audience at the ESPY Awards on March 3rd 1993. The ESPY Awards are sponsored by ESPN each year for those recognized for their achievement in sports. Almost 21 years ago, â€Å"Jimmy V† as he was known gave his speech because he was not told to; rather, he gave his speech because he was qualified to influence a revolution. Jimmy Valvano was a prestigious collegiate basketball coach at North Carolina State University. It was at North Carolina State, where he led his Cinderella team to a national championship in 1983. Just nine years later in 1992 he was diagnosed with a rare†¦show more content†¦James wanted to accomplish all of his dreams with blood, sweat, and tears of hard work, and loyalty to the game he loved. Those blood, sweat and tears began to develop before the speech even started, and transpired till the very e nd, setting up how Valvano would approach what he would actually say. The first clip of the speech would be Jimmy V walking up the stage weary about the possibility of falling in front of the soon to be audience. For anybody who knows somebody who has, or who had cancer, walking up those few steps to get onto the stage were basically equivalent to climbing Mount Everest. Vigilant of potentially falling and showing how weak he actually was only developed Valvano’s emotional tone of the speech that never gave way. Since Jimmy V did not have a preplanned speech he spoke from his heart analyzing how close one can come from failure, to how much more you need to achieve for success. As words started sputtering out, Valvano used his emotional tone to organize what he actually wanted to inspire throughout the rest of the speech. Valvano had planned to be emotional, humorous, sympathetic, and straight forward throughout the whole speech to build up to this moment where he expects ever yone watching to be more aware of cancer research because it is just as important as AIDS research. From this point on all eyes were on Jimmy V, the audience was calm, cool, and collective, and onShow MoreRelatedDon t Give Up1239 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up† In 1993, one in four people had the risk of getting cancer and unfortunately, Jimmy Valvano was diagnosed with bone cancer. He was a remarkable coach with a championship title while at North Carolina State University. At the first ever ESPY Awards, he was given the Arthur Ashe Courage award and arguably gave one of the best speeches in sports history. With the help and support of ESPN, the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research has raised over 150 million dollarsRead More Cancer Essay1487 Words   |  6 Pages Presently cancer kills one American every minute of ever day. There are 1,500 people diagnosed with cancer every 24 hours a day. Specifically there are many types of cancer that could make you extremely sick. Everybody in your family has probably had cancer at least once.(â€Å"Research† 3) Some people thinks cancer comes from Airport Scanners because of the Radiation from the airport x-ray scanners. A bad food to eat is red meat Some people in Africa eats rats. Rats have red meat.. Red meatRead MoreA Speech Of Former Men s Basketball Coach Jimmy Valvano1259 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: In today’s speech we will be going over the legendary speech of former men’s basketball coach Jimmy Valvano. We will be taking an in depth look at the speech Jimmy V gave at the first ever ESPY’s award show created by ESPN. In our analysis of this speech we are going to be examining the character of the speaker Mr. Valvano, the audience he was giving the speech to, and the situation it occurred in. We will also be discussing his speech as a whole, touching upon everything from hisRead MoreWhat Is The Jimmy V Acceptance Speech1314 Words   |  6 PagesJimmy Valvano once said â€Å"Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up†. When you hear these words, what do you think of? Do you think about participating on a sports team and being down by a few points? Do you think about being so exhausted that you need to stop working and sleep? When Mr. Valvano said this, he was not thinking about how he wanted his team to come back and win or how tired he was and was not sure if he could do what needed to be done. He was talking about his battle with cancer (2012 ESPYS)Read MoreThe Speech Of Steve Jobs1035 Words   |  5 Pagesstudied for decades. A few that come to mind are â€Å"I have a dream† by Martin Luther King, â€Å"Never give up†¦Don’t ever give up,† by Jimmy Valvano and â€Å"You’ve got to find what you love,† by Steve Jobs. Each and every one of these speeches was written by men who were challenged to make difficult decisions in their lives which would inadvertently affect their future in one way or another. The most current speech of the four is Steve Jobs’ â€Å"You’ve got to find what you love.† His speech targets collegeRead MoreThe Speech Of Steve Jobs1050 Words   |  5 Pagessome horrible, some motivational and some inspirational. The one detail I can tell you there is always a few that will linger and stick around in your head. These speeches go through history as being remembered and studied for decades. A few that come to mind happen to be â€Å"I have a dream† by Martin Luther King, â€Å"Never give up†¦Don’t ever give up,† by Jimmy Valvano and â€Å"You’ve got to find what you love,† by Steve Jobs. Each and every one of these speeches was written by men who were challenged toRead MoreI Have A Dream By Martin Luther King1016 Words   |  5 Pagesgood, some bad, some motivational and some inspirational. The one thing I can tell you there is always a few that will linger and stick around in your head. These s peeches go through history as being remembered and studied for decades. A few that come to mind happen to be â€Å"I have a dream† by Martin Luther King, â€Å"Never give up†¦Don’t ever give up,† by Jimmy Valvano and â€Å"You’ve got to find what you love,† by Steve Jobs. Each and every one of these speeches was written by men who were challenged toRead MoreInformative Speech2057 Words   |  9 Pagesthe corner. Bailey throws it too Whittenburg, FIVE second left. Whittenburg shoots a prayer from thirty feet. THREE seconds †¦TWO seconds, the ball looks to be short and all hope is lost. Then Lorenzo Charles leaps into the air from under the basket, ONE second left. Charles catches the ball and dunks it in. Reveal the Topic: The N.C. State Wolf pack, are the 1983 NCAAM Basketball champions. Thesis Statement: I would like to inform you all about a historic, Cinderella sports story. How the NorthRead MoreA Theory Based On The Art Of Loving, Albert Rogers, And Maslow1630 Words   |  7 Pagesconception of their theory so each will be discussed. My theory is not a cure but I believe if a person can follow the core beliefs one can achieve happiness. I also draw concepts from Jimmy Valvano who was not a psychiatrist but a college basketball coach who inspired me as well. Muhammad Ali is another figure that I’ve drawn inspiration from in forming my theory. My approach is one of an eclectic nature meaning that is a therapeutic approach that incorporates a variety of therapeutic principles and philosophies