Dedication
Every now and then you run across someone, you would like to emulate, if even a little bit. Until last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of knowing and working with one of those people. His name was Doug Adams. Doug passed away last week. I did not know Doug as well as a lot of people, but I didn’t have to. Doug may have been one of the most skilled people I’ve ever met. He had an obvious passion for his work at Girls and Boys Town and I talked to him several times about another of his passions, Trains. I related to Doug more because of our mutual fondness of the lake at Boys Town. I run the trail at the lake quite frequently and could almost always count on seeing Doug walking the trail just about any day the weather permitted or strolling the halls of the Girls and Boys Town headquarters building when the weather was not so cooperative.
Doug’s dedication to people spoke volumes. He was only 50 years old, yet 27 of those years were spent at Girls and Boys Town. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Doug exemplified all that is good in people and all that makes the employees at Girls and Boys Town so important to the kids we serve. You can not have worked at Girls and Boys Town for one day and not know that. Girls and Boys Town and more importantly Doug’s family has lost a truly genuine person. I hope to be one-tenth the person he was.
I will think of Doug many times in April and in the future.