I was having a back and forth with my man ClydeBuck on another thread last week where I stated that Kosta Koufos was Greek. That same evening I was at my son's bball game at Thomas Worthington and saw Kosta Karageorge's (another Greek kid) wrestling accolades posted on the wall. I'm sure we all remember his presence from the NC run in '14.
While my son is an athlete there and our family is heavily involved in the athletic dept. we only heard of what a nice family the Kosta Karageorge family is. Kosta himself was involved in sports, excelled in wresting and football, and by all accounts had a healthy social life. I remember my mother telling me how good looking he was and we all know how good looks can improve your social standing. The Buckeyes were on a NC march...what more could you ask for in life.
But he had his bouts of severe depression of which many were never known - only hidden in that dark place of his brain that many of us can't understand. It was a heavy bout of depression that finally caused him to take his own life in a dumpster on that cold November night before the B1G championship game. I remember how tragically sad that story was to me...the young man just had too much going for him to do what he did.
Fast forward to just 2 weeks ago and DJ Carton announced in prime time that he was taking some time off to address some issues regarding his mental health. Just think about how far we've come on the topic of mental health in a few short years in how KK's story belies the outcome thus far in Carton's. Those 2 stories alone, both on the OSU campus, can tell so much about how our society not only accepts struggles with mental health, but now understand and supports the importance of getting help to address it just like we do with cancer and other diseases.
My wife has had to tackle her own depression, anxiety and mild OCD issues (along with cancer) and now that I understand it more I just admire her even more that I did. She never backs down from the struggle, she's always willing to fight, and she's not one to hide in a corner because she believes that that part of her came with the package when we were married. I must confess that God has blessed me to the point of embarrassment.
To see how the basketball team has closed ranks in support of DJ is just great to see. To see how devastated the football team was when Kosta took his life, how they wished they would have known can hopefully be a thing of the past as the stigma of mental problems fades. It is a sad, sad story for Karageorge family with nothing but hope for the Carton family. Thank God our culture has changed for the better in this regard.
I hope all of us on this board have changed right along with it.
While my son is an athlete there and our family is heavily involved in the athletic dept. we only heard of what a nice family the Kosta Karageorge family is. Kosta himself was involved in sports, excelled in wresting and football, and by all accounts had a healthy social life. I remember my mother telling me how good looking he was and we all know how good looks can improve your social standing. The Buckeyes were on a NC march...what more could you ask for in life.
But he had his bouts of severe depression of which many were never known - only hidden in that dark place of his brain that many of us can't understand. It was a heavy bout of depression that finally caused him to take his own life in a dumpster on that cold November night before the B1G championship game. I remember how tragically sad that story was to me...the young man just had too much going for him to do what he did.
Fast forward to just 2 weeks ago and DJ Carton announced in prime time that he was taking some time off to address some issues regarding his mental health. Just think about how far we've come on the topic of mental health in a few short years in how KK's story belies the outcome thus far in Carton's. Those 2 stories alone, both on the OSU campus, can tell so much about how our society not only accepts struggles with mental health, but now understand and supports the importance of getting help to address it just like we do with cancer and other diseases.
My wife has had to tackle her own depression, anxiety and mild OCD issues (along with cancer) and now that I understand it more I just admire her even more that I did. She never backs down from the struggle, she's always willing to fight, and she's not one to hide in a corner because she believes that that part of her came with the package when we were married. I must confess that God has blessed me to the point of embarrassment.
To see how the basketball team has closed ranks in support of DJ is just great to see. To see how devastated the football team was when Kosta took his life, how they wished they would have known can hopefully be a thing of the past as the stigma of mental problems fades. It is a sad, sad story for Karageorge family with nothing but hope for the Carton family. Thank God our culture has changed for the better in this regard.
I hope all of us on this board have changed right along with it.
