By A.J. Moore
For the Salisbury Post
Recently, we have lost two beloved citizens of North Carolina. Their lives took different paths professionally, yet were completely akin in the nature of their purpose and worth to our spirits and meaning of life.
On June 3, 1966, I graduated from Cary High School. The commencement speaker was the lieutenant governor of the state, Bob Scott. His message was clear and to the point ó that being, we had taken the first step. Whether we chose to go into business, into the militaryor to further our education, we had succeeded. On May 17, 1997, I sat in the stands with thousands of other proud parents as former Gov. Bob Scott delivered a similar address to the graduates of UNC-Wilmington.
My stepdaughter took her undergraduate degree and took the next step at UNC-Chapel Hill and and achieved her masters in nursing.
Kay Yow was a truly successful basketball coach. Her merit was in the ability to take high school girls and make them into collegiate women. Yet, fate had a different path for her, one that many would have faded from. When nature handed her a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, she not only confronted the challenge of cancer, but beat the challenge for 20 years. All the while, she was a coach and mentor, holding the banner up for those to fight the illness that would eventually take her life. She stood as a pillar of strength, and a beloved daughter of North Carolina who never took her inevitable passing as a detriment.
The state’s motto is “Esse quam videri” ó “to be rather than to seem.” These two whom we were privileged to know and share a part of the same life will never be gone from our hearts and minds.
Bob Scott was committed to the education of our people. The goals he sought weren’t necessarily that all high school graduates receive a masters degree but to achieve at the highest level possible. His work in the community college arena will have lasting implications for many years in the future. Kay Yow set the standard for facing adversity. It’s easy to roll over and take it; it’s another to stick your chin out and say “you have to come get me, because I’ll never give up.”
These two children of North Carolina served us both in their separate ways. Yet, their hearts and minds were as one when it came to how they felt about their commitment to others.
If anyone doubts there is a legacy for Bob and Kay, go to any commencement or recovery ward and put your arms around a graduate or a fellow human being suffering from cancer and say, “you’re not alone.”
On the other shoulder will be Bob or Kay. You won’t see them, but they will be there.
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A.J.Moore livesin Salisbury.