The family feared what would become of Wooden when Nellie, his wife of more than 53 years, died of cancer on the first day of spring, 1985. He went 10 years without returning to the Final Four because he would not go alone.
Even today, hearing his wife's name causes him to pause. And, without saying another word, his eyes fill with tears.
"He still pines for her. He misses her so much. He is grateful for everything he has, but it still hurts him to be without her," said Wooden's daughter, Nan Muehlhausen. "The older I get, the more I look like my mother. Daddy loves it, but sometimes it tugs at his heart too because, when he looks at me, it reminds him that she's gone."
Socrates once wrote he was not in fear of death because of the life he lived. And so it is with John Wooden.
There was pleasure in the championships.
Pride in the accomplishments.
But the true joy?
That has been the journey.
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