The Walk….

With a month to go, I’m taking this week to promote the Les Turner ALS Walk for Life. It’s September 20th at Soldier Field. Amy and I have organized a team called Moving Mountains with Mustard Seeds with a lot of help from our good friends. In addition to the walk, there will be an afterparty at Clover Lincoln Park (the old Durkin’s). If you plan to join us after the walk, please use this link to RSVP so we have a headcount and can get your team t-shirt size. We hope you’ll consider joining us for a great cause that’s obviously very close to me, and a fun party where we can catch up and reminisce, remembering our Glory Days.

I haven’t been in the company of many of you in over 10 years so I feel the need to prepare you for what you’ll be seeing. First of all, I lost all my hair! Those long flowing locks are gone. Shocking, I know. Second, you won’t see me in a sleeveless shirt showing off those 16-inch guns. A dad bod is more my style nowadays. Oh, and did I mention that I’ve been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease?

Any questions are more than welcome when you see me, but I would like to address a couple now so we can focus on fun the day of the walk. The short version – I was diagnosed in October of 2023, after over a year of showing symptoms, surgery on my neck, and going through over a dozen neurologists. At a second opinion visit at a top ALS clinic in Chicago, Amy and I were told that I had 2 to 3 years to live.

Now for the great news. The walk will be close to my two-year diagnosis anniversary and I am blessed to be a very slow progressor. When you watch me, I don’t believe you’ll be able to tell that I’m anything but my normal, bulletproof-self. Close inspection would show that my left hand doesn’t work very well but there’s no need for concern because I’m telling you that now. I believe that my faith, and the faith of those close to me, is allowing me to not only write this blog, but also plan on this being the first of many annual ALS Walk for Life events we’ll be able to enjoy together.

Now that the tough part has been written, it’s time to have some fun. Amy introduced me to this song Looking Up by Sidewalk Prophets and I immediately shared it on Facebook. It made me feel good and I hope it does the same for you. The words are powerful (and it was filmed in Chicago!).

On the day of the walk, it’s going to be a little strange when half of our team is calling me “Coach” and the other half is calling me “Greg.” Bear with me as I try to explain…

My first day in Chicago and the first time I’d ever even seen a big city was January 9, 1990. That was the day “Coach” came into being. I was on a business trip with my boss and he and a friend took me out for a night on the town in the Windy City. After a great dinner, we wound up at The Lodge on Division Street. We had a few adult beverages and I needed to take a break so I walked out to the alley on a very brisk January night. A female patron followed me out and immediately said “Coach, I love you!” and tried to kiss me. I was very confused and didn’t allow the kiss, but I did proceed back into the bar with her. I told my boss the story and he began an interrogation of how to get to the bottom of it. She firmly believed that I was Craig T. Nelson from the show “Coach.”

Craig T Nelson, 1991

Me, around the same time.

Within a few months I was living in Chicago and would often go out on the town and have complete strangers shout out “Coach!” Well, the nickname stuck, and through the next 20+ years that I lived downtown, that’s the only name I went by.

During that time, I was blessed to cross paths with hundreds of employees, thousands of customers, and scores of good friends, all of whom called me “Coach.” It hit home one day how ingrained the nickname had become when friends from back home in Kansas, from my high school years, came to town and went to Redmond’s. They asked the waitress when Greg was going to be in. She informed them that no one named Greg worked there. Puzzled, they said, “He owns the place,” to which she replied, “No, the owner is Coach.” The issue was put to rest when my manager produced the liquor license, containing my real name, stunning the poor waitress. To this day, all of Amy’s family calls me Coach and our nephews and niece grew up calling me “Uncle Coachy Coach.”

The move north to Lake Forest and entry into an education career convinced me to return to my family-given name. So, for all of you who have known me for the last 10+ years, I hope this explains the different names I go by so you don’t think I have a personality disorder… or that I’m in witness protection of some sort.

Returning to seriousness for just a moment… my Moving Mountains with Mustard Seeds team set an ambitious fundraising goal of $100K. It appears that we just may get there thanks to all of you and your generous donations. I would like you to know why I have chosen to support the Les Turner ALS Association and where your money will go. Here is clip from their website:

Founded in 1977, the Les Turner ALS Foundation is one of the longest-serving ALS groups in the country. Our support services team helps people living with ALS receive the best quality of care and access to the most promising therapies, and we offer support groups, ALS resources and webinars, and live events to provide answers and encouragement. Our Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine is led by the most well-respected scientists and clinicians in the field, advancing vital research into causes, treatments, and cures for the disease. 

When I originally learned of my diagnosis, all I could think about was finding a cure. Since then, I have been in contact with many individuals with ALS and those caring for them. I’ve learned how absolutely debilitating this disease is, and the enormous cost associated with that care. My hope is that we can make a difference in their lives, helping with what can be north of a quarter of a million dollars annually for care.

Wrapping up this week, I want to say thank you again for all those who have donated and supported Amy and me through this journey with thoughts, hopes, prayers, and now donations. I hope I have kept you at least a little entertained through it all with my posts. If you’re joining us for the walk or the after party, be warned that I don’t have the stamina that I used to. I will not be doing shots, I will not have more than two beers, and I will not be wearing cowboy boots for the walk (though I may bring a pair for the party). A final song for this week comes from the past but, oh, what a great song it is.

Have a great weekend. I hope to share one with you in about a month.

God bless.

Coach