Life & Death
I've never met Maggie Dixon. For some of you reading this, you won't even comprehend who Maggie Dixon is. Or I guess I should say was.
If you are a college basketball fan you may have heard about the fate of Maggie Dixon as it unfolded these past few days. But for those of you in the dark, I'll sum up the story as best as possible.
Maggie Dixon was the Head Coach of the women's college basketball team at Army, a school with a lackluster history in the sport. In Dixon's first year as head coach, she led the team to a 20-11 record, it's first 20 win season since 90-91 & first ever NCAA Women's Tournament appearance. Dixon had ties locally in Chicago as she was an assistant at DePaul to longtime Lady Blue Demons coach Doug Bruno from 01-05. Dixon came to DePaul fresh after being cut during a WNBA tryout in 2000. She then turned to coaching. While I don't know the details about how she managed to even arrive in Chicago at DePaul, what's known is that she showed up at Bruno's office, introduced herself & after the meeting with Bruno, joined the staff. She ultimately ended up being the top assistant before leaving to take over the Army program before the 05-06 season. The last season she would ever get to have.
Maggie Dixon, who was just 28, passed away Thursday night after an arrhythmia heart episode on Wednesday.
College basketball fans may know the Dixon name best from Pittsburgh Head Coach Jamie Dixon, who was Maggie's older brother. This past season the Dixon's became the first brother-sister combination to coach in the NCAA tournament in the same year. Sadly, they will never get the chance to do so again.
Why am I writing about this subject, especially about a person whom I never met & to be honest with you, someone I never even knew existed prior to reading about her health problem & subsequent death? Well a few reasons actually...
Dixon was just 28 when she passed away. I'll be 28 at the end of this year & haven't thought about the possibility that I'm running out of time to live. I can't even imagine that I'll feel fine now & tomorrow I'll be dead, like what Dixon experienced. I understand the fragility of life of course. I know I could get hit by a bus & it will be all over. I know life isn't guaranteed. I know all the cliches. But for all intensive purposes, I don't envision dying tomorrow. But it could happen. People my age shouldn't be dying of natural causes.
So here is someone I picture doing a lot with her life. Her playing days are over, so she transforms herself into a coach. And she enjoys success & is on the road to a great career. She has breakfast with her brother & a few hours later shes in the hospital fighting to live. 24 hours later, she's dead. That's such a dramatic shift I can't even imagine how people close to her prepared for it. Did you even have time to say goodbye? It seems like such a waste that someone who was enjoying life so much would have it taken away through no fault of her own.
It makes me think that I'm taking my life for granted in ways. I feel like I'm playing games with my health when I don't take care of myself better. It feels like I'm wasting a gift when I'm lazy & put things off. It feels like I should be doing more with what I've been given & not assume I've got time to accomplish anything I want. It feels like I'm alive, but not really living.
One thing is painfully clear however. Dixon is dead & I'm alive. Something about that doesn't sit right with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anxious to die or feeling undeserved to be living. I just know that I have to get things going here. I can't assume I'm going to make it to tomorrow. I may not wake up tonight. What would my legacy be? I can't leave things as they are. I've got to start doing more with what I've been given.
I'm not lecturing anyone on living life to the fullest or anything of that nature. This is solely for me. Each person makes their own life. For me, I'm not comfortable with how things stand. I just hope it's not too late.
If you are a college basketball fan you may have heard about the fate of Maggie Dixon as it unfolded these past few days. But for those of you in the dark, I'll sum up the story as best as possible.
Maggie Dixon was the Head Coach of the women's college basketball team at Army, a school with a lackluster history in the sport. In Dixon's first year as head coach, she led the team to a 20-11 record, it's first 20 win season since 90-91 & first ever NCAA Women's Tournament appearance. Dixon had ties locally in Chicago as she was an assistant at DePaul to longtime Lady Blue Demons coach Doug Bruno from 01-05. Dixon came to DePaul fresh after being cut during a WNBA tryout in 2000. She then turned to coaching. While I don't know the details about how she managed to even arrive in Chicago at DePaul, what's known is that she showed up at Bruno's office, introduced herself & after the meeting with Bruno, joined the staff. She ultimately ended up being the top assistant before leaving to take over the Army program before the 05-06 season. The last season she would ever get to have.
Maggie Dixon, who was just 28, passed away Thursday night after an arrhythmia heart episode on Wednesday.
College basketball fans may know the Dixon name best from Pittsburgh Head Coach Jamie Dixon, who was Maggie's older brother. This past season the Dixon's became the first brother-sister combination to coach in the NCAA tournament in the same year. Sadly, they will never get the chance to do so again.
Why am I writing about this subject, especially about a person whom I never met & to be honest with you, someone I never even knew existed prior to reading about her health problem & subsequent death? Well a few reasons actually...
Dixon was just 28 when she passed away. I'll be 28 at the end of this year & haven't thought about the possibility that I'm running out of time to live. I can't even imagine that I'll feel fine now & tomorrow I'll be dead, like what Dixon experienced. I understand the fragility of life of course. I know I could get hit by a bus & it will be all over. I know life isn't guaranteed. I know all the cliches. But for all intensive purposes, I don't envision dying tomorrow. But it could happen. People my age shouldn't be dying of natural causes.
So here is someone I picture doing a lot with her life. Her playing days are over, so she transforms herself into a coach. And she enjoys success & is on the road to a great career. She has breakfast with her brother & a few hours later shes in the hospital fighting to live. 24 hours later, she's dead. That's such a dramatic shift I can't even imagine how people close to her prepared for it. Did you even have time to say goodbye? It seems like such a waste that someone who was enjoying life so much would have it taken away through no fault of her own.
It makes me think that I'm taking my life for granted in ways. I feel like I'm playing games with my health when I don't take care of myself better. It feels like I'm wasting a gift when I'm lazy & put things off. It feels like I should be doing more with what I've been given & not assume I've got time to accomplish anything I want. It feels like I'm alive, but not really living.
One thing is painfully clear however. Dixon is dead & I'm alive. Something about that doesn't sit right with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anxious to die or feeling undeserved to be living. I just know that I have to get things going here. I can't assume I'm going to make it to tomorrow. I may not wake up tonight. What would my legacy be? I can't leave things as they are. I've got to start doing more with what I've been given.
I'm not lecturing anyone on living life to the fullest or anything of that nature. This is solely for me. Each person makes their own life. For me, I'm not comfortable with how things stand. I just hope it's not too late.
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