CHS grad turns personal tragedy into inspiration for others

CHS graduate and athletic standout Denise Taylor, above left, speaks with Corbin Intermediate School teachers Angela Williamson and Morgan Preston during a motivational seminar she led at Corbin High School Monday.

A former Redhound sports star who founded an organization to help people live fuller, more positive lives had a message for Corbin school system teachers and faculty members Monday – you don’t have to do anything; it’s you get to.

Denise Metzger Taylor, a 1985 graduate of Corbin High School, started www.wegetto.org as a way to inspire others in the wake of her own personal tragedy. Her daughter, Jonnae, died at age 15 in June 2008 after a three-year battle with leukemia. Taylor calls it her daughter’s "heavenly birth" and has written a book with the same title in an effort to inspire others who are coping with tough times.

"I love when I get to share the life of my daughter and the lessons that we learned together and to use that to inspire others,"

Taylor told the Corbin Independent School System staff members during the district’s opening day Monday.

In the midst of her daughter’s cancer diagnose, painful chemotherapy treatments, a bone marrow transplant and long hospital stays, Taylor said she heard a sermon where the preacher encouraged listeners to not think of events and obligations in their lives as things they "have to" do, but instead things they "get to" do.

The message stuck.

She said the three years her daughter spent fighting cancer was three years Taylor herself was able to transform her attitude – rewire her thinking to see the good in all things. It helped her daughter cope as well.

"We say we have to do things that we really don’t believe and mean that we have to do, and yet we still complain about them," Taylor said. "The truth of the matter is, you don’t have to do anything. Everything that we do we get to as a part of the gift of life. A lot of times, the best gifts are wrapped in unattractive packaging."

Taylor encouraged teachers, faculty and administrators to not think of their jobs, meetings or other things in their lives as drudgery, but instead something that others in less fortunate situations would love to be doing.

"You can shine a light on a very dark place because of the empowerment and strength that gratitude can give you when you see it from a different perspective," Taylor said. "There are people who will go through their whole lives and not know the love and the bond I shared with [my daughter] in the midst of that very dark, long valley. I find inspiration anywhere I can get it."

While supporting her daughter through her trials and tribulations, Taylor said she used the power of the positive "I get to" message to effectively train for marathons and triathlons. Though she was a tennis and golf star at Corbin High School, and later a scholarship tennis player at Eastern Kentucky University, she said she was actually in the best physical condition of her life during her Jonnae’s struggles.

Taylor said she was told it was typical for people going through similar situations to gain 30 or 40 lbs. and binge eat as a way to cope.

"What kind of precedent does that set for the family?" she said. "I wanted to show a different kind of possibility."

A resident off Sellersburg Indiana, Taylor would stay long stretches in Louisville hospitals using the time to train with her daughter right by her side, cheering her on the whole way.

Today, through her organization and website, Taylor connects with students, educators, athletes and others across the country in an attempt to add her message as curriculum in schools. The "We Get To" message targets the issues of bullying and school life for students and teachers, emotional/stress eating and coping with control issues for women and mothers, dealing with diagnosis and end of life preparation for caregivers and healthcare providers, workout tips and muscle development for athletes and improving performance for professionals.

Corbin High School Principal John Faulconer said he was impressed with Taylor’s presentation Monday, and added that it is now incumbent upon teachers and administrators to pass it on to students.

"I think we all have that little voice in our head that tells of all the things we have to do. I think we can get so preoccupied with the have to’s, that we can forget that we get to teach kids every day," Faulconer said. "We get to be involved in their lives and that’s a pretty special thing."