I’m heart-broken…and also eternally grateful for 43 years of friendship with my Brother Greg. So many shared adventures and experiences, while supporting each other through life’s highs and lows. We met as members of the college track team and, frankly, were unlikely friends – Greg was full of energy every moment of every day, the life of the party, quick with a quip, ever-loyal to his friends, and a friend to everyone; if an experience was new, he wanted to try it! I was introverted, socially uncomfortable, risk-averse, and Jewish with immigrant parents. But, we hit it off and I’m forever blessed for a lifetime of adventures with Brother Greg, from coast-to-coast, as well as Canada, Mexico, and Europe. So, so hard to pick one memory that captures what a uniquely special man Greg was… During winter of our senior year of college, the entire campus lost power. There was no heat, and in our tiny dorm room, condensation clouds followed every word we spoke or every time we laughed. Greg’s sense of humor never wavered! But, it kept getting colder and colder, with the moisture inside our windows turning into thick ice; the temperature must have been in the low-30s in our room, and my distance runner body had no insulation. In the middle of the night, Greg jokingly “yelled” that he couldn’t sleep because of my shivering and teeth chattering. He laughed, threw his blanket across the room at me, and went back to sleep with only a thin sheet for warmth. Brother Greg, you were a rare combination – as strong and hearty as the toughest Montana rancher, with an ever-present heart of gold that always overflowed with kindness, goodness, consideration for others, and an ever-present spirit of adventure.
Greg pushed life experiences to the limit, always with curiosity, laughter, and quickly adapting to the unexpected. I’m forever grateful for the experiences we shared together. Just an example: Our “3 weeks for $300” travel adventure during college winter break included (1) Getting caught in the middle of an armed standoff (while cruising the bayous of Houma, Louisiana) between our tough-as-nails old Cajun woman guide and neutria poachers trespassing on her property, (2) A host of adventures fit for a novel in Acapulco and Mexico City, from cheap bullfights to Greg befriending a retired Chicago cab-driver that took us to his special bar in a bad neighborhood on Christmas Eve, where Greg led Christmas caroling with a host of poor working families, single mothers and their young kids…it was joyful and really didn’t matter that Greg didn’t speak any Spanish, (3) Getting eaten alive by mosquitos while sleeping in 99% humidity in our rental car on the Overseas Highway to Key West…with the vague hope that we would meet Jimmy Buffet once we got there; it was an adventure to laugh about, and our mosquito bites were badges of courage!