Sometimes there are a confluence of events and thoughts that crowd out my usual business-specific topics. December was one of those times.
Superman Sam died on December 14th.
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| Samuel Asher Sommer 2005-2013 |
Who? An eight year old boy from Chicago whose leukemia battle was documented over two years by his parents, Rabbis Michael and Phyllis Sommer. (The Sommer family and Gallant family have been close for over forty years---Michael's father, David and my father, Murray were best friends. Our families mourned together as we lost both of these extraordinary men before their time.)
I was one of thousands of people experiencing Sam's illness, recovery, relapse, bone marrow transplant and final decline through Phyllis and Michael's intimate blog Superman Sam. Blogging and social media sharing was the Sommers' way of letting their widespread community of friends, family, rabbis, students and caring strangers know what was happening.
When Sam passed away, over a thousand people attended his funeral on a snowy Chicago afternoon. I've been watching the impact that Sam's journey has had on so many people. One social media expert started compiling a list of links of websites, articles, blog posts that were inspired by Superman Sam and his family. See it here.
This one little boy and his parents' courage have had an impact that they could not have anticipated when they began this sad journey. Thank you for sharing Sam with all of us.
Over the past few months I have been working with a client who has thought deeply about leaving a legacy. Mark Ewert's book The Generosity Path has just been published. Mark asks you to examine your values and priorities and then make donations that can have a real, lasting impact in the world.
There's a tried-and-true exercise used by professional coaches that asks clients to imagine what they want people to be saying on their deathbed (in the far, far future). Once you know what you want your legacy to be, you can work towards it. What do you want to be remembered for?
