Dear big brother,

I know I am not the only one who misses you and talks to you all the time.

I miss you.  I know you are with us every day but I'm still angry with you for leaving us so soon.  You did everything on your own terms and I love you for that.  (not happy, but I understand - sorta)

You taught me how to be strong.  

You showed me what caring truly means.

What you didn't do is prepare us to lose you. 

Not happy about that big brother.

I love you.

I miss you.

I received an email on 3/24/25 asking me what things in day-to-day life that continue to remind me of Greg. There are so many things that remind me of Greg.

1) birds. He used to send me pictures of him holding out his hand to feed the birds on his back deck. I don't have many trees in the yard, however I do have what I call the "sparrow tree" as it will typically have anywhere from 5 - 50 sparrows in it at any given time from spring to fall.

2) music. Our taste in music differed, but you were the one who introduced me to Queen, The Ramones, Foreigner, and so many other bands. There are so many songs that remind me of you

3) memes/jokes. You got me through so many hard days with nothing more than a joke/meme

4) food. Funny how comfort food becomes more comforting.

I miss you big brother. You were so many things to so many people. You taught us so much. You showed by example what true compassion means. You were my rock. My port in the storm. You showed me the person I wanted to be, and could be. You always believed in people. You saved my life, not once but twice without even knowing what you had done. You made sure I always saw the daylight and I was never alone.  

I recently received an email asking what I had learned from Greg.  I have thought about that email and asked myself "do you REALLY want to know what I learned from Greg?"  and then I realized that Greg taught me more than I realized.  

I learned:

 - overripe bananas disintegrate upon impact with sisters and wicker back chairs - and will leave a truly impressive silhouette on the wall behind said sister

 - Velveeta will stick to every surface in a house for a VERY long time

 - he had a truly wicked sense of humor.   He could find humor in just about any situation

 - His taste in music is questionable...

 - "Sister-napping" isn't just when your sister is in a mood.  It's also for brothers who need sister time to discuss the world events, upcoming weddings, birth of their first child.  It's a time to go to the movies (Rain Man will always bring back memories), the arcade for video games, and maybe a cup of coffee or ice cream.  Sister-napping was a time to just be ourselves and laugh, cry or be as goofy/embarrassing in public as we possibly could be and not worry about what anyone else thought.

 - Big brothers are a true PITA at times

 - Big brothers are also your hero.  They protect you from being bullied on the walk home from 7-11.  They stand up for you.  They also tell you point blank in no uncertain terms that you are wrong.

 - You can have entire text conversations using nothing but memes and you will know exactly what is going thru their head at the time.

 - I learned through Greg how to NOT do a lot of things...  :)

Most importantly, I learned that Greg was not only obstinate, pig-headed at times, and could be challenging to deal with when he chose to be.  He was also kind-hearted, he believed in causes that helped people.  He would give you the shirt off his back.  He truly tried to believe there is good in everybody.  

He was more than just a big brother, he was an AMAZING husband, father, uncle and friend.