Griffin poses in his prom clothes for a photo. Photo credited to: Justina Lee Photography

Niles North Athletics showed their support for the Maks family and Childhood Cancer Month throughout September, honoring the life of Griffin Maks and all of those fighting childhood cancer. On Sept. 28, the Boys Soccer team  Girls Tennis team held brief ceremonies prior to their competitions. On Oct. 6 during halftime, the Varsity Football will honor the Maks family, and on Oct. 12 the Girls Volleyball team plans to also show their support for for the Maks family.

During the warm-up time of the boys soccer match on 9/28, Head Coach Filip Cejovic, Coach Miha, and Coach Ivan welcomed the Maks family to the team’s bench. The players wore yellow warm-up jerseys to show their support for those going through childhood cancer and for the Maks family, who suffered a tragic loss when family member Griffin Maks passed away on July 2, 2023. A member of the Niles North community and a friend of many, Griffin fought his cancer courageously for three years before passing away. 

All the players and coaches gave their condolences to the family during the team introductions. Furthermore, a heartwarming moment of silence was shared by everyone attending the match. The Niles North Vikings defeated their opponent Whitney Young 3-1 in a hard-fought matchup.

Anybody who ever had the pleasure of meeting Griffin would tell you just how much of a fantastic human being he was. He would always be the funniest person in any room, cracking jokes the entire time and making you laugh with each of them.

I first interacted with Griffin when I was four years old. He had been diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia at 2 ½ years old, and my dad ran the 2011 Chicago Marathon for him. We became friends in elementary school and would hang out with each other, but I really got to know him during middle school.

He wasn’t in many of my class periods, but we sat together at lunch and were always with each other during recess through 7th and 8th grade. We and a few other friends would always be messing around and constantly having fun, and I considered him to be one of my best friends. We were also in the band together, and would always mess around with each other. 

We would always hang out with our friend group both in and out of school, and I’ll never forget how much fun we had together. I remember one time in particular when our friend group came over to my newly renovated basement, and we were laughing with each other the entire time. 

When quarantine hit, and we couldn’t hang out in person anymore, we would play video games with each other all day every day. He introduced me to one of my favorite games ever, Warzone, and I have so many memories of playing just me and him for hours on end. We would be laughing and playing in the game, or even just sit in the main menu and talk to each other. We’d play all kinds of games and had so much fun with all of them. 

When we weren’t playing video games, he would send me funny videos of himself on Snapchat or videos he found on Instagram. Sometimes I’ll go back into our messages and rewatch all those videos he sent me, and remember how much he made me laugh. 

Even after his cancer relapsed right before our freshman year of high school, he would continue to talk to me daily, sending me TikToks and Snapchat messages throughout the day. Although he was in pain, he still wanted to make me and everybody else laugh, and he never failed to do so.

While he was battling cancer, he made time for me and his other friends, and we got to hang out a bunch of times over the three years he so courageously fought against his sickness. We organized a prom for him and had a lot of fun together.

Griffin passed away on July 2, 2023, surrounded by his family and friends in hospice care. I was grateful that I got to spend time with him and hopefully make him feel more loved right before he passed, and I know that he is in a better place now. 

I miss Griffin every day, but I live my life knowing that he is watching over me all the time. He made sure that everybody remembered him in a positive way, and that is how I remember him–there aren’t enough words to describe how funny, kind, loving, and all-around amazing he was. I keep a picture of him in my phone case at all times, and I write his name on my cleats so that I’m always playing with him and for him. He lives on through those who knew and loved him, and he will always be in our hearts. 

I’m so thankful to be able to call Griffin my friend, and that I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and getting to know him. If you’re reading this and you never met him, I hope I helped you understand just a little bit how much light Griffin brought to everybody’s life that he touched. He has genuinely inspired me to be a better person, and he’s the strongest person I’ve ever known. You can donate to his family, who are some of the kindest, most loving people I’ve ever met, on their GoFundMe page. Please consider donating. You can also read more words about Griffin on his obituary. I inserted a small gallery below of some pictures of events I talked about in the story involving me and Griffin. 

Gallery • 7 Photos

Griffin's name on my soccer cleats so that he'll always be with me while I play.