Leigh’s Legion

I have to remind myself from time to time of the purpose of this blog – to preserve and promote Leigh’s legacy. She was a powerful influence on so many people’s lives, particularly in the last 20 years of her life. She wanted people, even strangers, to know her story of survival, self-control, and strength. That story is just as important five years after her death, and I’m committed to sharing it with as many people as I can. I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of that up to now; it’s time to put the hammer down, and I’ll need some help with that. I have several friends who never met Leigh personally, but who have purchased as many as ten copies of “Finding Strong” and given them to family and/or friends. Those of you who have done that can consider yourselves as charter members of “Leigh’s Legion.” I want to recruit others into this group – I’ll suggest two ways you can become members of Leigh’s Legion. One way is to urge three people you know to subscribe to this blog. You may have to show them how to do that. Remember that the blog address is www.claude-cooper-finding-strong.com. This option doesn’t cost you or your recruits a penny, only a few minutes of your time. I promise to try to make the blog entertaining; I’ll mix in some humor along with vignettes about Leigh’s life. The second option for membership in Leigh’s Legion is to urge at least one person to go to amazon.com and purchase “Finding Strong,” either the print version or the kindle version (which is much cheaper). Or better yet, go to amazon.com yourself and purchase a copy as a Christmas gift for a friend or family member. And while you’re there, write a review.

We’re all familiar with Jim Valvano’s ESPY speech in 1993 when he accepted the Arthur Ashe Award and announced the establishment of the Jimmy V Foundation. Probably the most memorable line in that speech is “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” But my favorite line, and the guidance I try to live by, is (and I am paraphrasing here) “Every day you should do three things; you should laugh, you should have your emotions moved to tears, and you should think. If you do those three things every day – laugh, cry, and think – then you’ve had a pretty full day.” Throughout most of my life, I found it easy to laugh, but extremely hard to cry. Even as a very young child, I rarely cried. I can only recall two times as an adult that I broke down and cried – when my grandfather died and when Leigh was abducted. That is, until December 17, 2012. Since that day my emotions have reversed. Not a day has gone by since that date that I haven’t been moved to tears. I try to keep it private, but it’s now much easier for me to cry than to laugh. I still love to laugh, as you know if you spend much time around me, but it’s not as easy as it used to be. I also get my thinking in first thing each morning as I work through two or three crosswords, two cryptoquotes, and a Sudoku. I also get in a little thinking writing this blog. So, that’s my advice to all my friends: laugh, cry, and think every day. If some of you macho guys out there need help with that second item, read a few pages from the Prologue to “Finding Strong.” That might prompt a tear or two. And I hope some of the posts on this blog will help with the laughter and with generating a thought process.

Leigh’s family – 2008