An Amazing Story

I know this blog is for telling you about the kids, the little adventures in our journey of life, a little talk, a little storytelling, the basics of my dive into parenthood, our ups and downs, etc, etc.

So with that being said, I'm taking a slight departure from the everyday as I have to share this story with you.  It's just too good to not be shared.

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When I started my career in the world of finance, the first person who truly opened a door for me was a gentleman by the name of Doug McConnell.  A good friend of my college roommate's uncle (Kate!), Doug worked at a well-known Chicago investment bank - William Blair.  And right out of school that's where I started.  I didn't have the pleasure of working directly with Doug, but he always went out of his way to take me to lunch, keep tabs on me and follow where my career was headed.

Fast forward 10 years.

We both still work in finance but neither of us at William Blair.  Doug has his own investment banking boutique, I work for a private equity firm.  A few months ago we met for coffee to catch up.  Little did I know, Doug has been working on something quite impressive, life changing really.

At 53 years old (a very "young" 53 years I tell you), Doug has endeavored to swim the English Channel.

He aims to be the 48th person in the world to swim the Channel over the age of 50.  And this isn't just for athletic achievement, but in memory of his father who passed away from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).   As Doug explained it to me, ALS is actually quite a small disease, meaning the number of people living with the disease is rather small compared to others.  There are around 35,000 people living with ALS in the United States.  Because of the devastating effects the disease has, most people live only 2-5 years from diagnosis.   It also lacks the amount of funding other well-known causes receive.  With his personal experience surrounding ALS, Doug decided to embark on the challenge of his lifetime to raise money and awareness for this cause.

And to date - he's raised about $108,000.  $108,000!!!!!  For the Les Turner ALS Foundation.  Incredible.

He's off to England next week and will undoubtedly conquer his 21-30 mile swim.


A couple takeaways for me:

- ALS is something that touches our hearts a bit.  For our wedding, in lieu of favors, we donated money to two charities, one being the ALS Association in memory of Charles Marcy.  Charles was Eric's grandfather who he was never given the opportunity to meet, as ALS took him away at too young of an age.  Our small little donation to Doug in honor of Eric's grandfather will barely make a dent in his grand total of money raised, but means the world to us.

Charles Marcy

- It reminds me that we really all can make a difference.  There is no doubt in my mind that the money and awareness Doug has brought to ALS will make a positive impact in the future (and now for that matter).  Doug is a perfect example that we can impact change.  One single person.   This is a lesson for all of us.  And as a parent I need to take this to heart and not let it slip from my mind tomorrow.

So there you have it.  A little story that should make your day.  A local Chicagoan going across the world to make a world of difference.

If you'd like to read more since I slopped this story into a micro summary and didn't give it the justice it deserves, you can check out Doug's blog here,  his wife's (and photographer! yay!) blog here, info on the Les Turner Foundation here or just google him - it's been all over the Chicago news and radio!