97-year-old grandpa is living his dream of seeing the Cubs in the World Series
Die-hard Chicago Cubs fan and 97-year-old Jim Schlegel still has his ticket stubs from Games 6 and 7 of the 1945 World Series.
So when his granddaughter Helen Schlegel found out the Cubs were heading to the World Series for the first time in 71 years, she knew the biggest Cubs fan in her life had to be there to witness history.
Helen promptly set up a GoFundMe page to share her grandfather's story and managed to score two tickets to Game 3.
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The plan was to raise $10,000 through the GoFundMe campaign with the intention of purchasing tickets. After the campaign raised over $800 in one night it caught the eye of Marcus Lemonis of CNBC's The Profit. Touched by the story, Lemonis tweeted his desire to take Schlegel to the game as his guest. After connecting with his granddaughter, he decided to give Jim his two front row tickets for free so that he could bring his own guest.
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Jim, a Pearl Harbor veteran who grew up in Chicago and currently lives in Elgin with his daughter, Beverly, was ecstatic to hear the news.
His granddaughter Helen posted a video of Jim (wearing his Cubs hat, of course) thanking "Mr. Marcus" for his generosity on Twitter and announcing that he would be taking his son Bill, Helen's dad, to the game with him.
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"He's overwhelmed right now. He can't believe it and he's totally grateful that this happened and he's able to do it," Jim's daughter Beverly told Mashable over the phone.
Jim then eagerly got on the phone to share his own thoughts about the tickets, enthusiastically saying, "Oh yeah, I'm excited!"
"For an old man, 97-years old, I don't know how to handle it, really," he told Mashable.
Jim said of the last time the Cubs were in the world series in 1945 "they didn't win that game," he wistfully recalled. Jim hopes that his favorite team will win this year, especially after all the help he's received to get to the game.
Since the family received two free tickets, Jim's daughter explained that they plan to donate all proceeds raised by the GoFundMe campaign to the Purple Heart Foundation to help wounded veterans.
Here's hoping Jim will bring the Cubs some extra luck on Friday.
Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.
