401 – Greg Corey of Highland Park, IL, A Wealth Manager & Father Of Three Including A Son With Down Syndrome

Transcript:

Greg Corey: I’m not gonna say there aren’t difficult days, but again, they’re net positive, right? Like, Presley is a package deal. I never once said, why him? Why us? Why any of this? Like, I don’t. It’s. None of it. I don’t see any of his diagnosis as a negative. It’s part of who he is. It’s part of what made our family what it is.

David Hirsch: That’s our guest this week, Greg Corey of Highland Park, Illinois, a wealth manager at Ameriprise Financial Services and father of three children, including a son with down syndrome. And we’ll meet Greg on this Special Father’s Network. Dad to dad. You’re not on your own. We walk this road together, heart and home.

Tom Couch: Now say hello to the founder of the Special Fathers Network and host of the Dad to Dad Podcast, David Hirsch.

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David Hirsch: Hi, I’m David Hirsch, host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. The Special Fathers Network Mastermind Group experience is the most comprehensive program the 21st Century Dads foundation offers. dads raising children with special needs, meet virtually on a weekly basis and form meaningful relationships, sharing weekly wins, discussing books, and sharing heartfelt challenges. The Mastermind group is free for the first 30 days. Stop trying to figure out things on your own. I invite you to join one of the existing Special Fathers Network Mastermind groups. You’ll meet some extraordinary dads, exchange a lot of best practices, and recharge your fatherhood battery for the journey ahead. It might just transform your life like it’s done for so many others. For more information, please see the show notes or Simply go to 21stcenturydads.org.

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David Hirsch: Let’s listen now to this conversation between Greg Corey and David Hirsch.

Greg Corey is a wealth manager at Ameriprise Financial Services

David Hirsch: I’m thrilled to be talking today with Greg Corey of Highland Park, Illinois, who’s a wealth manager at Ameriprise Financial Services and father of three, including a son with down syndrome. Greg, thank you for taking the time to do a podcast interview for the Special Fathers Network.

Greg Corey: Thank you.

David Hirsch: David, you and your wife Carly have been married for 10 years and are the proud parents of three children, Ashton, 4, Frankie, 6, and Presley, 8, who has down syndrome. Let’s start with some background. Where did you grow up? Tell me something about your family.

Greg Corey: So I also grew up in a family of three, one of three boys, and I’m the middle. I married a girl who’s one of three girls, and she’s also the middle. So there’s a lot of middle child syndrome going on in our home. But, no, I grew up in the. In the Barrington area, and, attended Catholic school my whole life, including Jesuit, school and high school. And my wife grew up in the Deerfield area, and that’s, you know, right around where we’re raising our family, so.

David Hirsch: Excellent. And our families have known each other, just for total transparency, for years and years, although you and I really never crossed paths, was your younger brother Chris, and my oldest son, Dave, who were classmates. but I got to know your dad a little bit. His name is John. He’s a graduate of West Point Military Academy. And, he went into the army. U.S. army, and was there, I believe, for 28 years, including his reserve service. He also has a master’s degree from Booth, and he’s been a wealth manager as well as a CFP for 36 years now. So, when I think about your dad, I think of somebody who’s very disciplined, has a great work ethic. How would you describe your relationship with your dad?

Greg Corey: It’s great. Despite me not being many of those things. I mean, I am disciplined, and I do have a very good work ethic. But I, you know, I was not going to go to West Point. I’m getting my CFP as we speak. I always thought I was going to get my master’s, but we’ll see if I end up going back for it. But, no, my relationship with my dad has always been great.

David Hirsch: It’s changed.

Greg Corey: I mean, over the years. I love working with him for the reason that, you know, we literally spend five days a week in the office, and then, you know, he’ll typically come over with my mom on the weekends or, you know, we’ll get together with the family. So we’re. We’re close, and we have a lot to. To talk about. But, it’s funny because, you know, growing up, you know, military man, he wasn’t doing much talking. We’ve always had a great relationship. I don’t think I’ve honestly ever really even had a disagreement with him since I’ve been an adult. It was just when I was a very, problematic high school kid. But we’re all good now.

David Hirsch: Yeah, I love it. Actions speak louder than words. That’s the thought that comes to mind. And your dad is a good role model.

Greg Corey: He’s the best.

David Hirsch: What are some of the important takeaways that you’ve had from your relationship with your dad? Maybe lessons learned.

Greg Corey: I don’t know if he’ll ever even listen to this alpha being honest, David. So I’m going to just really speak from the heart. He’s, he is everything that you mentioned. He’s very much a role model and a, mentor and, you know, larger than life individual. He very morally centered and has the strongest morals and ethics of anybody I’ve come across. I see more of it now in practice, frankly, than I even did growing up. And, you know, he’s not just a role model for, for me as a, as a husband and a father, but really, you

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Greg Corey: know, as an advisor in our industry. And he just takes care of people and he’s, he’s a wonderful person and, you know, I want nothing more than to aspire to be just like him, so.

David Hirsch: Yep. Well, you’re driving down the right path. And coincidentally, like you said, you also have three children just like he did. So the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Greg Corey: I broke the streak, though. I managed to have a girl in the mix though, David, and much to my family’s happiness, everybody’s thrilled with old Frankie.

David Hirsch: There you go. My recollection was that you went to Loyola, Academy for high school, you played baseball. And then to Eastern Illinois University where you took a BA in English and literature. In your career, most of your career was at Medline, a local company where you served in various roles for 13 years, including product management and marketing, before you got into wealth management with Ameriprise over the last five years. I’m sort of curious now, how did you and Carly meet?

Greg Corey: We met online. But I will say, just real quick to add to your story, my first year was at Mizzou University of Missouri, where I was originally pursuing a literature and journalism degree. And then I decided to make a switch and I just went for the cheapest local school, you know, that, that had some decent credentials. So that’s how I ended up at Eastern. But, and then, yeah, how did I meet my wife? So I was working so much at Medline, frankly, it was either data colleague or, you know, lean on the Internet. And so I, I opted for the latter. I met my wife through eharmony. Best matchmaker I could think of. We’re a wonderful couple. And yeah, we just hit 10 years in August, so. Yeah. Yeah.

David Hirsch: Well, congratulations on your 10 year anniversary.

Greg Corey: Thank you.

One out of seven marriages today are online relationships to start with

David Hirsch: I think the statistic, I don’t know that’s for a fact, is like one out of six. One out of seven marriages today are, marriages that were online relationships to start with.

Greg Corey: Well, do you know the statistic I was thinking of and I. And I don’t. I’m sure you’ve gotten into. With other family members, but I. I think about the divorce rate, and I think about the increased divorce rate for fathers, you know, or people in a special needs family or relationship. And that’s always in the back of my mind, if I’m being honest with you. I mean, we, My wife and I, were in the thick of it, as you and I often talk about, and I really do try my best to communicate and stay present and, you know, honestly fight that statistic of divorce. So we’ve. I’m very happy that we found each other. And again, we’ve added to that statistic of online marriages, but I refuse to add to the statistic of families that, you know, split, up due to, you know, extending circumstances or just any. Anything. Right. So we work very hard at our marriage, and I think families that have special needs complications, you know, and more time, you know, demands on them, less sleep, all that. I mean, we really need to work harder together. And luckily, both of us are committed to that, so.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, from your lips to God’s ears. thank you for your persistence and consistency. It’s admirable, honestly.

Prior to having children, did you or Carly have any connection to special needs

So let’s talk about special needs. Yeah. Prior to having, children, did you or Carly have any connection to the disability or special needs community?

Greg Corey: With the exception of my. My dad’s cousin Mary, who had a PKU deficiency and, you know, which was frankly not diagnosed and treated, but it ultimately ended up in her to have some mental disability and. But, she’s always been, you know, family and we always see each other and we love talking together. So, I mean, my cousin Mary was really the only exposure I had. But I swear, you know, ever since, obviously, we’ve had Presley’s diagnosis. You know, you can’t. You can’t turn your head any which direction without, meeting plenty of other people that have it in their family. So whether the radar’s up now or it’s always been that way, and I didn’t know, now we have. We are surrounded by wonderful people with special needs.

David Hirsch: You know, it’s probably both. The radar. Right. Is more sensitive. Right. And, you know, it’s always there. Right. You just maybe don’t notice. Right. You don’t know what you don’t know.

David’s son Presley has mosaic down syndrome, which causes developmental delays

1. So what is Presley’s diagnosis and how, did it come about?

Greg Corey: So he has mosaic down syndrome. And I guess how it came about is somewhat of an interesting aspect of my story because, you know, as our first, we basically made the commitment to each other that, you know, we were going to be happy with whatever child we had or my wife had. We had prenatal care, but we didn’t do any in vitro testing. And we basically were just waiting for our child. So Presley was going to be Presley. Whether Presley was a boy or a girl, that was the name, you know, Elvis Presley. So then you name your child Presley, whichever the name is. No, I’m kidding. But, But we knew we were having Presley. We didn’t know the sex. And then we had him, and we were thrilled. Obviously, as you can imagine. Again, we didn’t know that Presley had any sort of, disability until really after he. So after several months, he had to have glasses. my wife thought he was having a tear duct clog. Turns out it was all good. But the doctor said, hey, by the way, he’s, you know, got vision issues. You should put him in glasses.

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Greg Corey: That was the start of our early intervention, right? He was slow to crawl, slow to walk, slow to do these things. So again, we were under this global developmental delay. And, you know, frankly, then obviously the pandemic happened and still trying to figure out, you know, why is Presley having these developmental delays. We’re in all kinds of therapy, you know, after early intervention. Again, still lots of therapy, but didn’t really know the cause. And it was only during COVID During, you know, frankly, a telehealth appointment that, through one test or another. And again, I don’t know if it was neurologic, genetic. I can’t remember at this point. But part of it is because it was kind of surreal to be told over the phone during a pandemic. Right. It was still the early days of it that your son has down syndrome. And they almost said it in a way, like, you know, he has down syndrome, Right? And it’s like, no, we definitely don’t. So he has mosaic down syndrome. So it’s mosaicism, Right. What that means is basically not every cell has the extra chromosome. And so, you know, for us, we were like, are we. We blind? I mean, were we missing something here? Like what? Like, were people just not telling us and. No, it’s because really, he doesn’t embody all the. The normal characteristic facial characteristics or physical characters, I should say, of a child with down syndrome, but. But he does embody many of the characteristics. So, again, like, you know, sorry for the long story, David, but again, when we first found out his diagnosis, it was all new, despite him being, you know, three years old. And then, so the first Thing that we did right out of the gate, in addition to thinking, you know, what more could we have done in the past two and a half years? Turns out, thankfully, we were already doing it with just as much therapy as possible. Then the question was, where do we go from here? And luckily, you know, again, we were. We were able to get him into a wonderful care program. And again, it’s been nothing but positive since then. And I will say this. When we did find out what his developmental delay was, you know, that turns out to be mosaic down syndrome, it was more information, and we can kind of help, you know, care with him accordingly. But we were very happy that we.

David Hirsch: We.

Greg Corey: We met him. You know, we know we didn’t put, you know, some more other, label on him. Right. He was Presley our son. He’s always going to be Presley our son. And then we found out the diagnosis later. And so anyway, long story, sorry, but, that’s the story of how we came to real, you know, to know that Presley had mosaicism, so.

David, your son was diagnosed with mosaic down syndrome early on

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, thanks for sharing. and in today’s day and age, people find out, in vitro, right. That they’re, having a child with, you know, whatever it might be, including down syndrome, because the tests are readily available. And not that you would have done anything differently, but, you know, it is a little bit unusual. Maybe it’s because it’s mosaic down syndrome, not, sort of like traditional down syndrome. That might be more obvious right at the time of birth. You know, like you said, you just love your son for who he is. And it’s probably important that you do get a diagnosis because not everybody who has a child with, some developmental delays or some challenges get a diagnosis even after doing, you know, loads of genetic testing. So knowing what you know now and thinking back to that fateful call, right, that telehealth, call, you know, by the way, matter of fact, did you know your son has down syndrome?

Greg Corey: Call.

David Hirsch: Do you remember what, like, fears or concerns you had at that time, not being familiar with down syndrome?

Greg Corey: Yeah, no, it’s. It’s funny you say. I mean, my. My first concern was what was the opportunity cost of not knowing this diagnosis sooner? What more could we have done? Thankfully, that went away pretty quickly, and we were reassured that we were already doing it. The next concern I had, ah, is, you know, I did know a little bit about the diagnosis in that, you know, there’s some physical, things that you need to be mindful of. And so we went straight there. So we screened for Making sure that there’s no heart issue or anything else that might go along with. With having down syndrome. And fortunately, you know, he was. He was all good in that sense. And so we, you know, again, we were. We were relieved, but. But again, we. We just started eliminating those things. And unfortunately, again, we. Even though we didn’t have the diagnosis right out of the gate, we didn’t miss any, you know, any actions.

David Hirsch: That’s good to hear. Any meaningful advice that you’ve gotten early on that’s helped put this in perspective.

Greg Corey: You know, it’s an interesting thought because right out of the gate, you know, again, we heard this news kind of alone. You know, it was my wife and I during the pandemic. You know, I would just say that, no, I would say I don’t have any advice other than to be present in understanding the situation you’re in, knowing that with new information, you’re still in the situation you were 30 seconds prior. Right. And all you now know is you have more information to go on to make more informed decisions moving forward. And so I would say to take a breath, right? If. When you get the diagnosis or the news, at any point in time prior to having the kid, after the kid, whatever, you just got to take it, take a breath. I don’t think this is something I talked

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Greg Corey: to you about, you know, in the past, David.

When Presley was diagnosed with Down syndrome, we talked about adding another child

So I’m going to plug this in now just so I don’t forget to say, say it. And I’m zooming ahead a little bit, but this is an important thing. We talked about the three kids. I’m one of three. My wife is one of three. We had already had Frankie by the time that we realized that Presley had Down, syndrome. My wife, in her mind, was like, we’re closing up shop. you know, she was done with two. And, you know, I. I was frankly, I’ll still keep going to. For. To this day, but she was like, you know, two kids.

David Hirsch: We’re good.

Greg Corey: We got a boy and a girl. We’re happy. When we had Presley’s diagnosis, Obviously, Presley and Frankie have a special relationship. They’re always going to have this incredible brother, sister relationship. But Carly and I both came from a traditional sibling relationship that, you know, we thought to ourselves, it would be kind of sad if Frankie didn’t have that as well. Right. So, again, everybody’s going to have their own relationship. But, wouldn’t it be nice because Carly’s so close with her sisters, I’m close with my brothers. Wouldn’t it Be nice if we can afford that to our kids as well. So, again, I thank Presley. I petitioned my wife, you know, I said, what do you think about having a third? Presley and Frankie are going to always be wonderful and they’re going to have a great relationship, but what if we can give a traditional sibling relationship as well? What do you think? And she was on board. Life got a lot more complicated and not without its challenges when you have three kids, especially. Again, he’s a handful, but, he’s wonderful. Presley helped complete our family and, and he’s the reason Ashton is around. And I will always just be indebted to him because I don’t think we would have kept going, frankly, had Presley not been diagnosed to have about down syndrome. And if he hadn’t before, you know, again, it might have been very different. Maybe we would have only had one. I just think everything worked out the way it was supposed to, and I just love my family and I thank him for so much for helping complete it, so.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, thanks for emphasizing that point. A, couple thoughts come to mind. One, you went from being man on man, two parents and two children, to playing his own defense. So obviously that complicates things. And then the other, thought that came to mind is that, it’s the, David Hirsch philosophy of parent size or family size, I should say. There’s a direct correlation between the number of children your wife wants to have and the actual number of children you have.

Greg Corey: Well, I appreciate it, and again, I would have loved to have four, but again, I’m very happy with three. And I’m just telling you, I know Presley is the reason why I know it.

David Hirsch: So, yeah, well, thank you for emphasizing that.

David Hirsch: We’ll be back with more of the conversation on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast in just a few moments. But first, this quick message. Please help 21st Century Dads gather research on families raising children with special needs by having them complete the Special Fathers Network Early Intervention Parents survey. A link to the survey can be found in the show notes. As a token of our appreciation, each person, mom or dad, who completes the survey will receive a great dad coin. Thank you.

What have been the biggest challenges that you’ve encountered with Pressley

Now back to the conversation.

David Hirsch: And not to focus on the negative, but, what have been, the biggest challenges that you’ve encountered so far?

Greg Corey: Oh, boy. I mean, I always like to say Pressley’s net positive. Right. It’s a package deal, but higher highs and lower lows. And at any given stage, that certainly would apply. I mean, I think candidly he was an easier baby and toddler. Part of it was because of those developmental delays and being a little bit less mobile. But then when he was mobile, then we got to deal with eloping. And, you know, still to this day, you know, if you don’t keep your eye on Presley, he might take off. And that’s a, that’s a concern. So at any given stage or something different. So again, eloping was part of it, you know, now it’s the normal stuff of just, you know, being a good listener and, you know, not getting into it with his brother and sister, you know, but he struggles with transition. He struggles with things that are, you know, completely new. But he’s, he’s doing okay. He’s a smart kid. When he’s focused on something. He never ceases to amaze me. And you know, I’m not one to put in boundaries. I want to see what he can do. Like literally. I’ll use today as an example. So it’s Columbus Day or, I don’t know, indigenous. I don’t know what we’re supposed to call it now anymore, David. So we’re gonna just say the kids are home from school today and with my wife and literally of all m. I’m like, how are, how’s, how’s it going? How’s everybody doing? Literally all the kids are like, she’s like, you know, come take these children. You know. But Presley, he is exemplary. He’s the best behaved. He’s teaching his four year old brother how to go to the bathroom and do what he is. I mean, he’s wonderful, you know, so I’m very lucky. And again, he’s holding it down today, with his mom, so, so that’s awesome.

What supporting organizations have your family relied on for Presley’s benefit

David Hirsch: Thank you for sharing.

Greg Corey: Yeah.

David Hirsch: So I’m sort of curious to know what supporting organizations has your family relied on either directly for Presley’s benefit or just the overall family.

Greg Corey: So we’ve gotten involved with, with GG’s locally. We are very involved with the SRA, in our case the NSSRA, the North Shore Special Recreation Group. And they’re wonderful. I mean, they are so accommodating with Presley. I mean, he goes to a cooking class

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Greg Corey: every Tuesday. It’s adorable. He’s so excited to go there. We’ve done other programs through, the Park District, the Island Park District, and the SRA provides resources to them. And then they go to, the Apache Daycare, day camp, so the JCYS Summer camp. And so we’ve historically been able to get some help and aid through Keshet. So we’ve done a pretty good job of utilizing resources from around, but we need to go deeper with a few. I will say.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, he’s still relatively young, and, you mentioned some organizations. The nssra, Gigi’s Playhouse, Cachette. These are some pillars in the community, you know, families like yours, so many families benefit from. So it’s just great to hear that you are plugged in, because some people are, you know, not leaning in like you have. So, I’m thrilled to hear that.

Greg Corey: Yeah. And, you know, literally, Gigi grew up in the same town as I did, so we got, you know, we gotta. We gotta take action on that. So anyway.

David Hirsch: Absolutely.

So what role has spirituality played on your journey? Oh, wow. Not expecting that question. David: I’m a spiritual person

So what role has spirituality played on your journey?

Greg Corey: Oh, wow. Not expecting that question. well, I’m a spiritual person. Hard to put a label on it. Like I said to you, I was raised Catholic and went to a, Catholic high school, but I married a wonderful Jewish woman, and we have three Jewish kids. And so we’re part of a temple now. And so. So, again, love values, love community, love every bit of it, regardless of the denomination of where you get it, I will say. But I, guess I do find myself, you know, whether we call it praying or talking to the abyss or somewhere in between, I. I do find myself doing that more often. I’m. I’m very happy with where I’m very lucky. If I’m having spiritual conversation or dialogue, it’s out of gratitude more than out of, you know, anything else. So I always joke with my wife that, you know, despite being the only gentile, as far as I’m aware, dropping the kids off at Sunday school, you know, when they have, like, a little service in the. At the beginning of it, I really do enjoy it and just, you know, I just like being present with my thoughts and. Yeah, I don’t know. A terrible answer, but that’s. That’s an answer nonetheless, David, so.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing. one of the things we have in common, you would not have realized this, but, I. I’m also. Or was in an interfaith relationship as well, but just the opposite. I was born into a Jewish family, but not practicing, wasn’t bar mitzvahed. And, my wife is a cradle Catholic. And, we raised our kids, you would know, you know, at St. Anne’s and, they all went to St. Anne’s first through eighth grade. They didn’t go on to, Catholic high schools because we gave them a choice of which high schools they wanted to go to. And, it wasn’t until about 13, 14 years ago that I converted to Catholicism.

Greg Corey: Wow.

David Hirsch: So, you know, I just sort of like, sat there on the bench, right? Literally in the pew. all seven of us, right. Would go to church on a pretty much weekly basis, and everybody thought, oh, what a, you know, wholesome Catholic family.

Greg Corey: But, wow, I didn’t know that if.

David Hirsch: You watched carefully, dad would not go up and get communion. So there was a reason for that.

Greg Corey: David, you. You didn’t happen to marry an Italian woman, did you? No, because I’m Italian and I married my wife. So we joke that our kids are pizza bagels. I didn’t know if you were in that club as well, so.

David Hirsch: No, I love it. Thanks for sharing.

Greg Corey: No, no, I seriously had no idea you were the reverse of me. I love that. That’s amazing. I love it. I don’t think I’m gonna convert to Judaism, I will say, but, you know, we’ll see. Time will tell.

David Hirsch: Never say never. Yeah. I just think that, spirituality should play a role in people’s lives. And, you know, the way I heard it, interestingly, from, a rabbi, not just a garden variety rabbi, but a rabbi of rabbis, Rabbi Bradley Arts and out in la, and he’s actually like the dean, of the rabbinical college. Right. So he’s the rabbi of rabbis there. And, he said, I don’t know how families who are raising a child with a disability or special needs can do it without their faith. Right. It’s to try to shoulder that individually. So, anyway, just a thought or two about spirituality. And, this podcast is not, meant to, be focused on spirituality. So we’re going to avoid the other controversial topic of talking about politics as well.

Greg Corey: I can talk to you about a rabbi trust if you want me to.

David Hirsch: Just too funny.

David, I’m wondering what advice you might share for younger dads with disabilities

So I’m thinking about advice now, and I’m wondering what, advice you might share with, younger dad, who finds himself in that, unpredictable position of realizing as a child or children with a disability.

Greg Corey: So the first thing that I did when I got the diagnosis for Presley was, and this is just by nature, I went and got a designation in special needs planning. I was like, I’m going to need to know about this. I’m going to have clients and other family members or other people in the community. They’re going to need to know about this. So the first thing I did was I educated myself. And. And I would. I would say, I think that’s. That would Be wise. You need to be your own advocate for

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Greg Corey: your child. The one thing I didn’t do that I, that I wish I did sooner and I think would have been beneficial early on, you know, is, is doing more with other families that are going through similar things or dads that are. I mean again, this isn’t a plug obviously for, for the network, but, but that is the reason that when I found out you were involved in this, in the organization and what you were doing, David, it was like, yeah, I’ve never really been around other dads. I’ve done, I’ve done some stuff, but never really in that community setting where we’re really sharing and talking. And so I, I do think that that would be beneficial. Especially you know, I’ve got the benefit of having a lot of family in the area, you know, like, especially if I don’t have that, I’m going through all this. Like I would really be looking for people that can understand what I’m going through or maybe was a few steps ahead and can give me some insight, whatever that might be. because again, you know, every diagnosis is unique unto itself. But to the best I could, I want to find my tribe and community that we can lean on each other.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, I think you suggested at least two, or three things. The importance of being present and the importance of educating yourself. Right. Not you know, just drafting off of your wife necessarily, necessarily like a lot of guys do. And then the importance of intentionally being in contact with other guys. Right. Find a safe place or places, right. Where you can be yourself and talk about things that are on your heart and they’re not going to judge you because they, they know what it’s like. Right. It’s hard for people that don’t have a child with special needs or disability to fully understand or appreciate the day to day, right. Of what goes on sort of behind the scenes. So that’s great advice.

Part of this stems from the point of diagnosis onward

Greg Corey: I have one more thing. I was just thinking, part of this stems from the point of diagnosis onward. One of the things that I thought you might have been alluding to earlier, you know, again, I would hope all the dads listening to this call would agree. You know, part of the concern about, you know, diagnosing things early is, you know, you know, again, not to get into faith based things, but there are people that are then taking action on the findings and aborting more of these pregnancies. And you know, again, I don’t think that would have been us. We never let it that come to that. But, boy, what. What a world. What a sad world it would be if. If Presley wasn’t in it and if I made that choice. And so I. I do think that it’s important to stay positive, because I’m telling you, like, there. I’m not going to say there aren’t difficult days, but again, it’s. They’re net positive. Right? They, like Presley, is a package deal. I’ve never once said, ah, why him? Why us? Why any of this? Like, I don’t. It’s. None of it. I don’t see any of his diagnosis as a negative. It’s part of who he is. It’s part of what made our family what it is. And I think that’s very important that you stay positive and that you’re just pragmatic in. In how you address things. Because, again, any child, any life I would hope would be seen as a positive. And I think it’s important that we keep it that way from diagnosis on through the rest of that person’s life.

David Hirsch: We’re on the same page. That could be a whole other podcast as well.

Greg Corey: Well, you can have me back. You can have me back for my reprise.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, Nancy Gianni would want to be a part of that conversation, too.

Greg Corey: I would love her to be on that. She’s. Yeah. Again. And I don’t know her story, but it just breaks my heart if somebody would lose out on the opportunity to raise a child like Presley. So.

David Hirsch: That’s awesome.

David Frum will be a mentor father for the Special Fathers Network

So, why have you agreed to be a mentor father as part of the Special Fathers Network?

Greg Corey: aside from you asking me and having a lot of respect and admiration for you. no, I’m just kidding. I mean, I, I. Seriously, David, I went to that group that, you know, your summit. I met some incredible dads, people that, frankly, I just looked up to immediately that are dealing with things that I. Everybody. Ever again. Everybody looks at the other person’s situation. They wonder, how do you do it? And I think it’s important that we all share how we do it and what we’re not doing so well and things like that. So, anyway, when you, when you asked me to be on this call, my first, Honestly, my first thought was, the hell do I have this? I mean, what, like, why are you asking me? Like, I’ve. I’ve seen the people you’ve had on your podcast. They. They have something to share, you know, why. Why me? But, the fact of the matter is I really do believe that everybody has insights, you know, maybe their own, you know, Superpower in some respect. Right? What are they doing better that could be shared and relate onto another? And so I guess my thought on this is you saw something that, you wanted me to share, even if I don’t necessarily know what that is, and I was willing to share it because I. I really do admire this community. And if I could say one thing that would help another dad, it’s time well spent. So thank you for the opportunity, David. But again, I appreciate you saying, seeing something and asking me for some time.

David Hirsch: Well, we’re thrilled to have you as part of the network. Thank you for being involved.

Special Fathers Network is a mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs

Is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up?

Greg Corey: No. I mean, again, I really admire what you’re doing. I am so proud to be episode 401. I mean, again, I. I feel like I’m standing on the shoulders of you and many others. And,

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Greg Corey: I just, again, if I could ever help anybody or share an insight or lend an ear or whatever, that’s why I’m doing this. And I really look forward to meeting more dads in the network and to the next summit Summit and, you know, getting to know you better. And I’m happy I got to share.

David Hirsch: Yeah, you did a great job. Thank you. If somebody wants to contact you, either as a dad who has a child with down syndrome or maybe a professional because of your, training. Right. In the special needs area, what’s the best way to contact you?

Greg Corey: Well, thanks for asking. I mean, again, I’m happy to help in any regard or just chat, but my email, I guess my work email is probably the safest bet. It’s gregory coreyampf.com and then my office line if anybody ever wants to drop me a line, schedule some time. 847-847-2134 and again, I’m happy to answer any questions that I can relating to special needs or just being a dad.

David Hirsch: So I’ll be sure to include that information in the show notes so it’ll make it as easy as possible for somebody to reach you. Greg, thank you for your time and many insights. As a reminder, Greg is just one of the dads who’s part of the Special Fathers Network, a mentoring program for fathers raising a child with special needs. If you’d like to be a mentor father or are seeking advice from a mentor father with a similar situation to your own, Please go to 21st Century Dads.org Thank you for listening to the latest episode of the Special Fathers Network Data dad Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. As you probably know, the 21st Century Dads foundation is a 501c3 not for profit organization, which means we need your help to keep our content free to all concern. Would you please consider making a tax equivalent contribution? I would really appreciate your support Greg. Thanks again.

Greg Corey: Thank you.

Speaker C: Dad to the dead. You’re not on your own. We walk this road together, heart and whole.

David Hirsch: And thank you for listening to the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. The Special Fathers Network is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Through our personalized matching process, new fathers with special needs children match up with mentor fathers in a similar situation. It’s a great way for dads to support other dads. To find out more, go to 21st.

David Hirsch: Centurydads.Org and if if you’re a dad looking for help or would like to offer help, we would be honored to have you join our closed Facebook group. Please go to facebook.com groups and search dad to dad. Lastly, we’re always looking to share interesting stories. If you’d like to share your story or know of a compelling story, please send an email to david2stcenturydadsuh.org the Special.

David Hirsch: Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast was produced by me, Tom Couch. Tune in again next week for another intriguing conversation with on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast.

Speaker C: Through every season, in every stride, great dads are present. 247-365-24-7365.

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