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Gabby Andres posted a condolence
We gather to honor my Dad Gregory L. Andres and the gift of life to be shared. My Dad Greg families, closest friends, family friends and friends offered this thoughts by which we understand who shared the gift of Life today. My Mom and I deeply miss Dad. He’s one in a million. My Dad is n man like no other. He gave me life, he loved me unconditionally. He accepted me for who I am. I remember at my young age I always slept on my my Mom’s and Dad’s bed. I’m in the middle between my Dad and my Mom. I tickle him to wake him up and he tickle me back. He tickles me after we eat dinner. Dad called it Tickle Finger a Brother from another Mother. We had lots of fun. When I was 9 3/4 years old I figured I had to move to sleep in my own room. Dad’s little girl is now big girl. Which is Cool! My Dad is very strong for a reason....He worked really hard, put a roof over my head, put food on the table, nurtured me, taught me, held me, shouted at me, kissed me and fought for me. His strength gives me sense of protection and I feel safe. Not enough words to say to describe my Dad. Now that you are in heaven Dad, I know that you will continue to protect me. Thank you so much for being My Dad. You are always in my heart and I will always miss you, Dad. Until we meet again.
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Regan Ruddy posted a condolence
I'm really sorry to hear this tonight, we were good friends back in the day, god bless all his family
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Steve posted a condolence
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Hi Barb,
This your old friends Stave Johnson, your across-the-street neighbor from when your family lived on Newton Avenue in Glen Ellyn during the 1970's.
I just found (on Tuesday 7/7/20) that Greg passed away in November of 2019. I am truly sorry and brokenhearted, and so sorry for the entire family. Over the years several friends of mine have passed away but the news about Greg is hitting me especially hard, very hard indeed. This tragedy has been constantly on my mind, and for several days now I have been having trouble sleeping. It is so sad and so very disturbing. 58 was way to young for Greg to leave us. What happened? Was something sudden? I sure hope Greg did not suffer.
Greg was a very special person, and a large number of my most cherished childhood memories involve Greg. We sure had a lot of great times together! We were all blessed to grow up in a great neighborhood, and in a great town. Of the many wonderful neighborhood friends that I was lucky enough to have over the years, far and away I spent the most time with Greg and I was closest to Greg. There are so many good memories, from day one of our first meeting.
I still remember quite clearly the first time I met Greg, and in fact I met your entire family at the very same moment. Your family pulled in the driveway at your new house on Newton and a bunch of us neighborhood kids were playing, so we all went over and greeted you guys and welcomed you to the neighborhood. I am not as clear on this, but I don't think you guys had actually moved in yet, and I think it was the first time the entire family had been to the new house, but I can't remember for sure. Also memory can be tricky as far as times and dates go, but it may have been in the late summer or early fall of 1971?? Anyway, I do remember your dad shaking all of our hands with and exaggerated motion of going way up high and then way down low with the handshake motion. It was funny and good ice-breaker.
Shortly after you guys moved in Greg, Barry and I, with Paul Grgurich I think, went down the Prairie Path and on into downtown Glen Ellyn. I believe it was the first time either Greg or Barry had been to the downtown area, on foot anyway.
One of my cherished memories of our childhood years is of those warm summer nights in the old neighborhood, playing "kick-the-can" or some other game, with all the neighborhood kids. As the evenings waned, one bye one the younger kids needed to go home and so it finally dwindled down to just the older kids still being outside. Then it was usually just Greg and I, and sometimes Marty would be there as well. We would often lay in the grass and look up at the night sky, looking at the big dipper while we talked. Or sometimes we would hang out on the corner, by the mailbox under the streetlamp.
At some point in time, probably while I was the seventh grade, all of us boys got into playing 4 square and we played that game for hours. We played out in the street under the streetlamp, more or less in front of Cass's house, because the street cracks lined up well to form the four squares in the street. Sometimes we played 2-square and that was played in the street near the Goheen's driveway.
For some reason I remember this next event very clearly. The evening that Richard Nixon resigned (August 8, 1974), he gave his televised speech at 8pm. Right after that your dad came bursting out of your front door (and believe it or not I can still hear the sound of the screen door slamming behind him). He hurriedly crossed the street and Mr. Goheen had also come outside and he was standing out in the yard near their driveway. Your dad and Mr. Goheen talked at length about Nixon. Greg and Marty and I were standing in the front of the Goheen's yard, near the front door, when we saw your dad come out of the house. We walked over to listen to what was being said, and to absorb the news, but we eventually got bored with all of that and so we went back to our playing.
On the last day of school one year (Freshmen year I think), right after school, I was in my room at home putting some stuff away and feeling very happy and relieved that another school year was finally over. I wanted to be with my friends and share the moment so I headed over to your house and I heard Greg and the guys out in the back yard. I went back there and they were playing 500 (a baseball type of game). I clearly remember having a great feeling of joy, and anticipation, and a feeling of total freedom at the thought that we all had the whole entire summer in front of us, with so many beautiful idyllic summer days to spend together. Those were the days, we were so young and carefree and happy!
Greg and I each had paper routes, mine was a twice a week but Greg's was a daily route. My route was for the Daily Journal, a local newspaper, and my newspapers were dropped off in our driveway on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Greg's route was for the old Chicago Daily News and Greg needed to go downtown in Glen Ellyn to get his papers. The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published until 1978. I remember going with Greg once to downtown Glen Ellyn to pick-up his papers. On Pennsylvania, right across from the municipal parking lot (the lot that is next to the fire station) there was/is an alley. The alley runs through the entire block and comes out next to Young's Appliance Store on Crescent. Going into that alley off of Pennsylvania, after walking about 30 feet, it opens up and there is a small parking area back there for deliveries for the shops on main street. Anyway as soon as you get into that open area and turn left there was a small storeroom with a single door. Inside that room were old wooden tables all around the outer walls of room. Then man who hired all the paperboys was in there and big truck was parked out there with all of the newspapers on it. They were unloading it when we arrived. All the paperboys met there daily to get their newspapers and stuff any inserts into the papers, while working on those wooden tables, so they could then go out and begin their routes. Greg knew everybody and kibitzed with everybody. The driver of the newspaper delivery truck was sleeping on one the tables.That entire scene is something that is lost now. It was a slice of American boyhood that no longer exists. I actually went downtown Glen Ellyn last Saturday afternoon and walked around reminiscing. I went into that same alley. The old doorway to that stockroom has been removed and bricked over but other than that it looks pretty much the same.
We all spent hours on the trampoline in our backyard, and what great fun that was!
We had a lot of fun attending the DuPage County Fair one year. Greg had acquired and old car and he entered it in the demolition derby at the fair. He wanted me to come and see him compete in that event and so I went and cheered him on. Greg had a blast!
I can remember playing golf with Greg on numerous occasions, in fact the first time I ever golfed was with Greg and your dad. One time your dad and Greg picked me up after school right in front of Glenbard West and then we headed straight to the Village Links to golf. Oftentimes we would take advantage of the cheaper "twilight special", it was for all the golf you could play until it was dark. We ended up walking back to the car in the dark on many occasions. We also golfed at Woodridge a lot. One time I golfed with Greg and your husband Cary at St. Andrews. Greg and I golfed a lot over the years and the last time we ever did anything together sports related was playing golf at Ken-Loch in Lombard.
I also remember going bowling with Greg a lot, and playing baseball, shooting baskets, shooting pool, and playing tennis, or going ice skating during the winter at Lake Ellyn. Sometimes we would go to the range in the evening and hit a bucket of golf balls, sometimes we went with your dad and sometimes it was just Greg and me. It seems like we were always doing something. Greg and I were on a team in a summer bowling league at Stardust Bowl in Addison circa 1986. We bowled a lot at Hesterman's as well, and at Brunswick.
One evening (probably in 1986 or 1987) Greg and Barry and I were having dinner at a pub on North Avenue in Glendale Heights and there was a huge snowstorm, it was a nasty and cold night. Barry and Greg wanted to go to a "Fishing and Outdoor Show" that was being held at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, but due to the bad weather it was doubtful that they would be able to go . Since I had a 4-wheel drive pick-up truck at that time, I offered to drive them out there and so we all drove out there and went to the show together. Fishing was/is not my thing but it was fun hanging around together anyway.
Greg and I actually went on a fishing trip once (my one and only fishing trip). It was up in Wisconsin. We arrived on Friday in the early evening and after we checked into the place where we would be staying we headed to a local pub for dinner. They had a pool table in there and so we played quite a few games of pool. The place started to get crowded with older people and at about 7:45 the staff began removing several large potted plants from an area in front of a big picture window near the front door. That area had a raised platform and there was a piano on the platform. A lady came and sat at that piano at about 8:00 and she started playing old songs. She was not 8 seconds into playing a song when the entire place erupted in singing! Every person in that pub knew and sang every song she played! What a memorable night that was!
One time I had a falling out with Brad Wathen and so I stopped attending Son City in Palatine and began going to Son City in Park Ridge. Greg also went with me. The Park Ridge Son City was in a Church and it was actually the place where Son City first started, when Bill Hybels was the director and Don Cousins was captain of Red Team. Greg and I were on Red Team when we went there. Tom O'Carroll started coming with us and we eventually had a big group of guys going to Park Ridge Son City. One time the whole gang from Red Team decided to go out to the Michigan Dunes on a Saturday and so Greg and I drove out there with one other guy, it was a good and fun day. They also had a Halloween party at the Church for the entire youth group and we were there for that. They had games and various things going on all over the Church. They also showed the movie "House of Wax" (with Vincent Price) on an old movie projector in an upstairs room. Greg and I sat in there on the floor and watched that movie. One time the whole group from Red Team went to a movie theatre in Chicago to see Star Wars. That was when the movie first came out and so I saw Star Wars for very first time with Greg. I actually saw a lot of movies with Greg over the years.
On one occasion Greg and I decided to go to downtown Chicago at Christmas time. We took the train and then we walked around the loop in the falling snow. We went to Marshal Fields (now Macy's). They have a large restaurant on the seventh floor called "The Walnut Room". They set up a up huge Christmas tree in there every year. Greg and I were lucky enough to be seated at a table right by the tree! I have had several meals in the The Walnut Room over the years and whenever I am in there I always think that time when I had lunch with Greg.
There were so many meals shared with Greg, pizzas at Barones, burgers at Alfie's launches at the golf course after 9-holes or 18-holes, dinner at Seven Dwarfs, meals at Yankee Doodle Dandy, or at Mc Donalds, and many other places. The last time I was at a restaurant with Greg was at Rookies in St. Charles, and we also played darts in there for a few hours.
Another of our outings was to go to McCormick Place in downtown Chicago to Drury Lane Theater. We saw a play with Mickey Rooney. It was a "theater in the round" so the stage was in the center with seating all around it. It was a fairly small theater and so we were probably only about 20 feet away from the actors. It was a fun evening.
There were several overnight sleep-outs in our backyards. Although we did not do much sleeping but rather we talked and we roamed around the neighborhood till all-hours.
When the TV show Happy Days was first broadcast in 1974 I often imitated Fonzie (I was 14). In that show Fonzie's actual name was Arthur Fonzarelli. Greg started calling me Arthur, or Arthur Fonzarelli, but most often Arthur. Greg virtually always called me Arthur after that timeframe, he did so even the very last time I talked to him in December of 2018.
Greg and I worked on a lot of projects over the years. We did a big job with landscaping timbers once in the backyard of a person whose lawn I regularly cut. It took us two full days to do all of that work, digging dirt, cutting timbers and nailing them in place to form a 5-foot-high wall of timbers. The lady paid us a really scant amount of money and when greg told of that to your dad, your dad went over there and talked to that lady and got us a few more dollars.
Another time several of us guys painted the Cass's garage for them. Mr. Cass went around and gave us each a $20 bill for doing that work! (that was big money back then). That gesture by Mr Cass was a surprise since we were doing it to help them out and not for money. One time a very large tree got hit by lightning in the Cass's backyard and it came down. We all pitched in and cut the tree up for them. Of course, Greg and I also built a few forts out in the woods so it seems we were always working on something.
Then there were the paper drives we worked on. Back then old newspapers fetched about $30 a ton (good money back then). I had my red pick-up in those days and I was out of high school and I was working, but Greg and Marty were still in school. After work & school Greg and Marty would get in my truck and we would drive to some area in Glenn Ellyn and then Marty and Greg would go door to door. Greg worked on one side of the street, Marty on the other side, knocking on doors and asking people for old newspapers. I would drive down the street and then help them if they got lot of papers at any given house. Once in a while we would hit the "mother-load" and then either Greg or Marty would yell for help. All three of us would pitch in and load the papers into the truck. It was amazing how some people had stacks and stacks of old of old newspapers in their garages or basements. We stopped collecting paper each day when the truck was full. During my lunch hour the following day I would take the papers to the recycling center and unload them and get the check. We split the money, with me keeping a bigger share for gas, and for unloading all by myself. It was a fun way to make a few extra bucks and spend time together.
Greg and Marty got jobs at SeviceMaster cleaning in a building in Carol Stream Stream during the evenings, from 6pm till 10pm M-F I was working full time at a car dealership in Glendale Heights during the day but Greg talked me into joining them working at ServiceMaster during the evenings (long days for me). we all did cleaning and so we worked together for several months. There was a drafting room in that building and it was laid out in a figure 8 with all the drafting tables around the edge of the room and in the center of the room. They had tall rolling chairs in there and so we would take our breaks in there and play tag while scooting around on those rolling chairs. The rules were that we could not touch the floor with our feet so we grabbed the tables in order to thrust ourselves around the room and avoid being tagged (yes,we were still immature teenagers)!
Greg and I worked at the old Church offices when Willow Creek was in its infancy. Those offices were in a small one-story brown building. We borrowed some equipment and we stripped and re-waxed all the floors inside the building. Another time Greg was working at a Chevy dealership in Glen Ellyn and he found a car that he thought I would like. I went and looked at it and I did like it. It was a 1970 Monte Carlo. It is one of the cars that I owned that I still think of fondly. Soon after that Greg told me of a job opening at that same dealership so I applied and got the job. Greg and I worked together at that dealership for a while.
When your dad was building the golf course Greg and Barry put in a lot of hours working on that. I did some work on it as well, installing the decking on the clubhouse and building a bridge over the creek, among other things. Very often your dad would ask me to help out by hauling stuff in my pick-up truck. Your dad and Greg and I would go to various places to pick up supplies or materials and then haul them back to the site. On one such trip we were driving down the Kennedy expressway and we saw a par-3 pitch & putt golf course in the back of a big multi-storied hotel. We got off the expressway and found our way to that golf course and we all played a round of golf. Your said that the course was the same type of thing he was trying to build at his course. Your dad never showed it but I think he could get a bit discouraged at times. When we were that golf course I mentioned that if this valuable land near the airport could be used for a small golf course, and still make money and stay open, then he had a really good shot to do well at his location. He was very happy to hear that. Anyway, Greg and I played at that golf course several times after that.
The first time ever went to a racetrack was at Maywood Park with Greg and your dad. After that Greg and I went alone a few times but I have never been to a racetrack since then.
There was an event called insomnia-cycle. It was an all-night bicycle ride. People met at a Dunkin' Donuts on Main street in Wheaton to get started. Greg and I went on that ride and we got lost. We ended up on Roosevelt Road near Finley Road before we recognized where we were. It was a lot of miles and by the time we got home at around 3:30am we were exhausted.
It is really amazing how much stuff we did during those years.
One time I was walking home from downtown Glen Ellyn and I cut through Patch Bothers. You may remember but Patch Brothers was at Pennsylvania and Western and they had a small store, and gas pumps, but they also had a big yard where they sold rock, and sand, and mulch and even coal. We all used to cut through there from time to time. As I was going through there I saw Greg sitting on top of a big pile of rock all by himself smoking cigarette. I gave him a hard over that!
One morning during the summer I woke up really early at like 6:30, which was very unusual back in those days. I went across the street and tossed pebbles at Greg's bedroom window until he woke up. He groggily got up and dressed and went out and started our day by playing catch with baseball on the sidewalk in front of our house since the grass was dewy.
When Greg traveled back to New Jersey, to visit old friends, he purchased a large charcoal drawing of Elvis from a vendor. Greg bought that drawing especially for me and he gave it to me when he returned. It is hard to believe that he thought of me while he was away on that trip. Greg was a thoughtful person in so many ways.
Greg and I connected, and lost touch, and then re-connected yet again several times over the years. Greg took the time and trouble to locate me again after your dad passed away and we discovered that we were living 8 blocks apart in St. Charles! Small world! Greg was living with Jenny at that time during a transition period, and then he moved out west shortly thereafter. I was able to visit with Greg and with Jenny and your mom during that time. Greg gave me two of your dad's paintings and I still have them both! The last time I actually saw Greg in person was during that timeframe so that was about 25 years ago. Actually, the very last time I saw Greg was at our townhouse in St. Charles. Greg had come over to say goodbye because he was moving out of Jenny's house and he was heading out west the next day. During our conversation I said two or three times that we really needed to stay in touch since we had such a long history as friends. The years sure go by quickly....way too quickly!!
Back in 2013 I found Greg's address in Tucson and started sending Greg little messages every once a while. There were quite a number of sayings that we both used back in our childhood days. I knew that Greg would know instantly that it came from me if he saw any of those sayings written in letter. There were a large number of those types of sayings so I typed out one saying at a time and sent them to Greg every few weeks or so. I only typed one line, with one saying, and I did not add anything else. I did not sign the letters and I did not use a return address on the envelope. I also sent a few Christmas cards with a little saying in them as well. One year I simply signed the Christmas card "Arthur Fonzarelli".
During that one-line letter sending season of time Greg tried to locate me bt he had trouble doing so because there are so many people my same name. He also tried Facebook, and such, but I am not on any of those types of sites. Greg finally paid a website to find me and so he located me and got my phone number. Greg called me on the day before Christmas Eve in 2016. We had a long conversation. Greg said he really liked all the letters I had sent, and the Christmas cards, and he thought the old sayings were all funny. Greg actually saved them all!! He read them to me over the phone (I had forgotten half of them).
Greg said that his wife and he had a nickname for me... "The Stalker". Every time a letter would arrive Greg's wife would say...you got another letter from "The Stalker" today! Greg knew the letters were from me from the very first time and he said he really liked getting them. Greg sent me one Christmas card and he included one of those saying in it! I still have it!
During that phone call Greg said that he would like to call me again and to keep in touch. He also said that we should visit him if we were ever near Tucson. It sounded like Greg had not been back to Illinois in a very long time since he loved the warmer weather in Arizona. It was freezing in Chicago when we talked that night ( December 23rd), and while we were talking Greg said that he was sitting outside and wearing a t-shirt in warm ol' Tucson!
One fear I always had was that I was sending the cards and letters to another Greg Andres!! Even that would have been somewhat funny though because and unknown person named Greg Andres would have been totally puzzled by all of that! However, it was good to find out that I actually had a the right Greg Andres.
It was good to catch up with Greg back on December 23, 2016. On that night, I just couldn't hardly believe it but at that time it had been 21 years since I had last talked to Greg! I was remember thinking that it was so weird because it really felt like it had only been about 5 or 6 years I was wishing Greg well with his move out to Arizona!! Wow! How time files!
Most recently I had been sending Greg a Christmas card every year and signing the cards since the gag was over at that point. (For 7 straight years, since 2013, I had sent Greg a Christmas card). Greg would then phone me at Christmas time starting in 2016 (thru 2018). The last time I ever spoke with Greg was in 2018, Greg called me on Christmas night! It was marvelous to hear from him, as always. Your mom was over at Greg's house that evening celebrating Christmas so I heard her voice in the background. We talked about a lot of things and we speculated again about a possible trip, where I would visit Greg out in Tucson. I truly regret that the trip never happened. I had been actively planning on making a trip to see Greg after I retire in a few years, in fact I really wanted it to be my very first trip after I retired. It is depressing and agonizing to realize that I never see Greg again, or hear his voice, or hear his great laugh again. A marvelous human being is gone.
I mailed Greg a card last Christmas (2019) and I was hoping for another phone call, but of course Greg had already passed away by then, so unfortunately the call never came.
My parents are both still alive and they are still living the same house on Newton! it has been over 53 years that they have lived there. My brother (Scott) and sister (Nancy) are doing fine.
In May of 2014 my sister's daughter got married. Nancy has kept in touch with a lot of her old friends and so Lisa Hayes, Kerry Jaske, and Kathy Jordan were all at the wedding and the reception. Talk about a blast the past! I don't know if you remember Lisa Hayes but her family lived in your house on Newton right before you guys did. It was great seeing them all again. Where have all the years gone?
Lisa Hayes younger brother J.D. passed away in December of 2018 at 54 years of age. J.D. and my brother were inseparable when they were younger, when the Hayes lived across the street from us. That loss was devastating for my brother, just as Greg's loss is devastating for me. I located and wrote to Paul Grgurich last year. I still have an 8X10 black and white photo of Paul and I receiving our trophies after Cub-Scout Pinewood Derby. That photo was taken in the old gym at Hawthorne School in 1968. I sent Paul a copy of the photo. Paul is living in Florida. Paul called me after he received my letter. I had not seen or heard from Paul since his family moved away from Newton Avenue. It was a good to talk to him again. Paul's mom and his brothers (Chris and Tim) and his sister (Sue) all live in Arizona, but Paul's father passed away.
I have not heard seen Brad Wathen since about 1987 or so, when we are on a softball team together. I reached out to Brad about 7 or 8 years ago with a long email and he responded with a fairly short paragraph. He opted not to respond to my follow-up email so it seemed pretty clear he was not interested in renewed contract....oh well....he always was a peach!
I have had sporadic contract with Bill Broyles over the years but has been quite a while now since we have had any direct contact. I have been sending him a Christmas card every year though. I was best man in Bill's wedding and he was best man in my wedding. Did you know that Greg was also in my wedding? Bill was best man, Brad Wathen and my brother stood up,and Greg and Rick were ushers. (You would not have known Rick but Rick and his wife Jan had introduced me to my wife so both Rick and Jan were in the wedding). In our wedding photos there is a picture of me, Bill, Greg and To O'Carroll all together. Unfortunately, To O'Carroll passed away quite a long time ago, probably close to 30 years ago.
Greg and I each had issues with our fathers and we spoke of it many times, including the very last time we talked. We both tended to envy some qualities in the other guys father, to some extent anyway. My father was overly interested in working the house and being serious, while your dad was fun loving and off the cuff. Greg told me that he saw the fun-loving part of his dad in terms of his dad being less responsible, and so Greg envied my father for being more reliable or steady. The way I have often thought of it is like this Greg's father was a dad, and my father was a father. It is sad to think that I first golfed with your dad, first went to a racetrack with your dad, spent so much time and had so much fun with your dad, while doing virtually nothing with my own father. Anyway, I speculated while taking to Greg that if we could take the best qualities of each man and blend then into one person we would have created the perfect father/dad. I believe that Greg took that to heart and I also believe Greg achieved that blend........Greg was fun loving and gregarious but also responsible and dedicated. It sounds to me as if Greg was a perfect dad/father and that is really awesome!
Greg did not have the opportunity to resolve the issues he had with his dad and that is sad. Fortunately, as I got older, I came to understand, appreciate, and accept my father for who he is and so the issues I had as a young person have been resolved and they no longer matter. I wish Greg had been able to get to a place of acceptance of his dad, and thus have peace, but I don't think he ever did. I always sorry about all of that.
It has been just over a week now since I found out Greg had passed away. I was filling in for one of my employees so I was working late on Tuesday evening. I was done with all of the work and so I was basically waiting around for a late meeting to end so I could lock up the building and go home. While killing time at about 8:00pm, while browsing the internet, I saw Gres's obituary and I was shocked, dazed, and stunned.......Overwhelmed really.
I have had a rough week as this news has been constantly on my my mind and, as I said earlier, I have been up at night dwelling on all of this, unable to sleep.
Besides writing this letter. I have been going through old yearbooks and old wedding photos. I even went to the old neighborhood on Saturday afternoon and I parked and thought about our shared past, remembering all the things we had done together. Then I went downtown Glen Ellyn and walked around down there. I also went over to Glenbard West and walked around over there.Since I could not get this off my mind. I literally took a walk down memory lane.
Of all the people I have who have passed away Greg's death is the worst I have ever experienced. I think part of that is because almost all the other deaths were of much older people, and/or with people had an illness so that when they passed away I entirely a shock or a surprise. I suppose with most of the other people who have passed away I did not have any real expectations of seeing them again, or of hanging around with them again.
Part of the reason that this new is hitting me so hard is because I truly thought there would be times of visiting, and of spending time together again at some point in the not too distant future.
It never even occurred to me that Greg pass away so early life.
Greg was the only friend I ever had where we could pick-up right where we left off whenever we talked, no matter how many years had passed there was never any awkwardness in re-connecting. It was always very easy, and very good, and very pleasant to talk to Greg.
I guess that I am having a very difficult time dealing with Greg's passing because it is like a door has closed and I am having a hard time believing that there will be no more calls, no visits, no more shared meals, no more laughter, no more shared reminiscences, no future, no tomorrows. I really loved that guy!
Greg was probably my strongest link to the past, a reliable link who was always there for me and available, and now that link is tragically gone. Greg was true, thoughtful, trustworthy, steady, and reliable friend through all the years. I have been blessed with a number of good friends over the years and many of them were people who I thought of as being my best friend and during a specific or time of my life. Besides Greg, that was true of Art Cone, Glen McGee, Bill Broyles, Brad Wathen and Brian McRae. How ever, with the clearer perspective that time and age afford me, I look back on all my past friendships, I have come to realize that Greg was actually the best friend ever I ever had.
My memories of Greg will forever be pleasant and they will bring me happiness in thinking of him, and in remembering all of the great times we had, and the things we did. Greg will be missed.... but he will never be forgotten.
We always think we have more time....and so often that is not the case.
In connection with old friends, I have often thought of the words in Judy Garland version of the song " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". It goes like this; "Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allow Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow"
It is sad and depressing to realize that we will not be together again "someday soon". That thought is making it exceedingly difficult to "muddle through" during this season of grief.
Sorry for this long letter, but it has helped me enormously to cope with this massive loss by writing down some of my memories of truly great friend, and Greg was a truly great friend.
Please give my condolences to your entire family, I am so sorry for your loss, for our loss.
I hope that you and all of your family are staying safe and healty during this COVID-19 crisis.
Take care Barb,
Steve,
PS: If possible I would appreciate knowing the details of Greg's death
sinatra1843@hotmail.com
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