Message from Spencer
Lou Gehrig once said, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” I feel it takes a situation like what God has presented me with to understand the full meaning and emotion that comes from this statement. Over the past few weeks, I can honestly say “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth”. Every morning when my feet hit the floor I feel blessed to be able to get out of bed. Everyone has their share of challenges. Too often we’re using up our time thinking about what we don’t have, what we need, or our misfortunes. God has shown me how lucky I am to be surrounded by family, friends, love ones, strangers, and God fearing Christians that want nothing more than to give me their prayers, blessing, and words of wisdom and faith. Every letter, text, Facebook message, voicemail, and/or phone call that has been sent to Lindsay and me are greatly appreciated. A reporter caught me off guard during an interview this week when she said, “Spencer you seem so strong and composed. Please tell me something you are scared of?” I thought for a second and the first thing that came to my mind was that I am simply afraid that I will never be able to express to everyone involved how deeply touched and grateful I am for everything that has taken place over the past few weeks.
What this community has pulled together and done for Lindsay, my family, the Styons’s and me in such a short period of time can only be described as a miracle. I just want to give a special thanks to some very important individuals who have been the back bone for this event and my support system. I don’t know what I would do without them and from the bottom of my heart I thank Sandy Patchkofsky, Renea Baker, Kim Weaver, Connie Corey, Jordan Aldridge Robertson and the entire office at Aldridge & Southerland. I also would like to think Mike Slocum for all the T-Shirt, decals, wrist band, cozies etc. that was designed and provided for this event. The product and detail of his work is second to none and the best part about doing business with Mike Slocum is you get to meet an amazing person. Lastly, I would like to thank Marie Manning for organizing a Relay for Life team in my honor.
Billy Weaver, I hope one day you might be able to realize how grateful and overwhelmed with excitement I was to see the video you put together of my former coaches and Alex White. The video touched me in the deepest part of my heart and there is no amount of money that could come close to making me feel the way that video did. You have gone above and beyond everything I could have possibly asked for during these past few weeks and I am extremely grateful.
I would also like to think all the local businesses and generous donors in and around this amazing community for their donations and overall support of this event. It is the people of this community that make Greenville a special place to live and I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather be. Thank you to the Pirate Nation both past and present. You don’t just take off the Purple and Gold when you’re playing days are over. You are a pirate for life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I want to think Pitt County Schools for their support and understanding nature during this time of uncertainty for my family. My father is a teacher at D.H. Conley High School. The understanding and support that Principal, Mary Carter has provided for my father to be with me during this situation is truly a blessing and provides a peace of mind for all of us. A special thank you to all of dad’s teammates who are pulling the weight during his absence. It goes without saying that a large majority of our support system for our family has been made up of teachers in this school system. I would also like to thank Vidant Health for all the care and support provided to me. Also a special thank you to Mark Pittman and his crew for all the support with my mom at work. Lastly, I’m very appreciative for all that Lynn Williams has done with helping my nephew, Jayce as we get through this. I am sure that I have left someone out of my thank you list…but please know my intentions are good and I am grateful for everyone that came out and supported me and my family at the Benefit.
I would like to end this by saying please don’t feel sorry for me. My heart, my soul, my peace of mind, and my faith, are sitting in a special place right beside God. I believe God has a plan for me and I am waiting to see what play he wants me to run.
-Spencer Hampton
