I remember these words more than 30 years later. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁. I was a walk-on football player at Michigan State. As our team’s losses began to mount during one season in the early ’90s, Coach George Perles was taking considerable criticism. A prominent local sports columnist had even begun repeatedly criticizing Coach Perles for being overweight. Most people assumed they knew the whole story. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁. One Sunday, after another loss, Coach Perles addressed us during a team meeting. At one point, he quietly pulled down the collar of his shirt. He showed us the scar across the base of his neck. And he said: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁. The room fell silent. At the time, I didn’t really understand the significance of what he had just shared. I didn’t know much about the thyroid. I certainly didn’t understand what living without one meant. But for some reason, I never forgot that moment. Nearly two decades later, I would understand it very differently. In the summer of 2009, I found a lump in my neck. Weeks later, my thyroid was gone. And suddenly, the words Coach Perles had spoken all those years earlier had an entirely different meaning. Sometimes a moment doesn’t seem particularly significant when you’re living it. Only years later do you understand why you remembered it. For me, that team meeting was one of those moments. There’s also something about the photograph accompanying this post that I find especially meaningful today. In the photo, I’m in the background during pregame warmups as Coach Perles talks with Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz at midfield. Both coaches later signed the photograph. Coach Holtz wrote: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗴𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆. I had no idea when he wrote those words how much meaning they would eventually carry. More than 30 years later, I can look at one photograph and see two messages I could never have fully understood as a young college football player. One was spoken by Coach Perles in that team meeting. The other was handwritten by Coach Holtz on this photograph. 𝗔𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀’ 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲. #BeyondTheDiagnosis #ThyroidCancerAwareness #ThyroidCancerSurvivor #ThyroidHealth (Photo credit: Hans Scott)