News tonight that Coach Mike Lambros had entered hospice care as he continues his battle with cancer struck this West Forsyth Titan softball fan with a myriad of feelings for a man I had seen coach on numerous occasions and had met one time.

Coach Lambros has been at the helm of one of the premiere softball programs in the state, if not the Southeast, and if there is one game you attended in Clemmons during softball season, it was the home game against North Davidson.

When North Davidson made its championship run this past spring, many outlets covered Coach Lambros’s battle with cancer. Reading about the Black Knights’ sweep of Cape Fear in the 4A championship series, I could not help but think of the absolute positive influence he has had over literally hundreds of young ladies he has coached and the thousands of people in the North Davidson community.

As I thought about writing this post, I remembered a story on Coach Lambros from the June 27th edition of the Winston-Salem Journal by Jay Spivey entitled ” North Davidson’s Lambros cherishes birthday after tumultuous 10 months” (http://www.journalnow.com/sports/prepzone/north-davidson-s-lambros-cherishes-birthday-after-tumultuous-months/article_0aead7ae-9dff-5d51-9f17-85ac4777e244.html).

Coach Lambros said something in that piece that came to mind tonight.

“Lambros said he couldn’t have gotten through the past 10 months without his family and his softball family.

He talked about family – his nuclear family and his school  / community family. It’s what he preached to all of those players and all of those students for well over 30 years in Welcome, NC.

Actually, he’s still preaching it.

To find someone who spends an entire career at one school is becoming a bit of a rarity these days. But when it becomes part of that person’s extended family, then that place becomes another home.

Coach Lambros will always be living proof of that.

For him and his family and his school family, there are a lot of people in the West Forsyth community who wish and pray for grace and comfort.