By Morgan Fletcher –
Many people lead interesting lives and have remarkable stories to tell.
I absolutely love hearing the life experiences of people from all walks of life, and I am always prompting people to tell me more about themselves and what they’ve gone through.
I’ll admit that sometimes I wish I’d never asked to hear people share something with me, because what they say ends up being just an overrun saga of something they’ve probably embellished a bit.
But then there are times when I hear what someone is going through and I am really moved by it.
Such was the case when I read Nick Charles’ story.
Sixty-four-year-old Nick Charles is a sports anchor who has been in the business for 40 years. He has covered almost every major sporting event and was CNN’s first sportscaster in 1980.
Charles has terminal bladder cancer and is living every day very gratefully. He was expected to live 20 months with treatment but is currently on his 21st month.
I have taken an interest in Charles’ story for more reasons than one.
Of course one of those reasons is the fact that the story is extremely sad and touching, but it also serves as inspiration.
Charles has a five-year-old daughter named Giovanna with Cory, his wife of 13 years.
Throughout his journey living with cancer, he has made a collection of videos to leave for his little girl so that she can grow up with a father even when he’s not physically with her.
Giovanna is very aware of her father’s illness and is staying strong to console her mother who she tells not to worry because ‘Daddy will always be in your heart.’
Charles has an optimistic outlook and is positive that his family will be fine when he’s gone.
He says he’s ready to go home to God as he has endured a lot of pain over the last year and is at a great place presently.
“I can’t believe I feel so good about the last week of my life, but I do … I finally got my life right,” Charles said.
His biggest fear is that Giovanna will be the one to find him.
I also feel a certain connection with Charles as I consider him a career influence. My goal is to become a court-side reporter, and I’m always telling people that I’m going to be the next Pam Oliver.
I happened to stumble across his story by chance as I was leisurely browsing CNN’s website. When I saw the headline regarding Charles, I immediately wanted to find out more so I clicked and watched the heart-wrenching interview.
I’ve watched a lot of Oprah over the years so I’ve seen a lot of sad stories of the struggles and hardships that people face, much like Charles and his family.
I can’t imagine what they’re experiencing as I’ve never been through anything similar, but I know in life it’s only reasonable to expect to hit a rough patch eventually.
I only hope that I can have the strength of little Giovanna when that time comes for me.