The people who have shaped us...

In the Spring of 2014, I moved to the town of Orinda, California, where I knew no one - with the exception of my wife and two young daughters. I was taking on a new job with a heightened level of pressure, had left a great community of friends on the East Coast, and soon felt my life unravelling; horribly, overwhelmingly, and uncontrollably. I encountered what severe depression looks and feels like.

While out on a walk with my family through the new neighborhood, the first person I met in Orinda was Chris Lang. We connected over Chicago and a love of basketball, and within 20 minutes realized we had two friends in common. It's hard to out-network a networker, and there was no way to top Chris.

When I say Chris Lang helped me survive, I don't do this lightly. I was soon in a dark place, and unable to get myself moving forward. If you've ever been around someone who is struggling with depression, you know it can be difficult to hear the same lament, or put up with someone's constant melancholy.

Despite our not having a long-standing friendship, Chris kept reaching out, inviting me to events where I'd meet other people (dinners, cornhole tourneys, school fundraisers), or to play ping pong, or watch a game. He helped arrange car pools for my kids, and he became the snarky and loving adopted uncle my kids loved. 

Through the years, I fortunately found my emotional state moving to a better place. And part of this was because of the consistency of ping-pong, backyard H-O-R-S-E, high school sports games, bad dad jokes, competition with our kids,  Protestant/Catholic dialogue, movie quotes, 70s/80s music, and more. 

When Chris died suddenly of a heart attack in 2021, he left a giant hole in this world.

Chris Lang is one of the best men I have met. He is the type of coach you want for your kids, and the friend you are so grateful to have. He deeply valued people, integrity, laughter, teamwork, selflessness, community, and generosity. 

BeWell Partners was in motion before Chris's death, but seeing the impact a person can have on others, and being in a room of guys (a week after his death) who were realizing they need to be more intentional about being with friends, and being a friend, the commitment to making something happen through the organization kicked into another gear.

-Jim Brommers Bergquist