Twenty-Three

Today would have been Greg’s 23rd birthday. It is so obscene to me that it’s his birthday, and while he should be turning 23, instead he will eternally be 22. It’s been six months since we lost him and it feels like forever…and sometimes it feels like yesterday. One of the last times I saw him was one year ago today. I was in Phoenix working and he drove into town to pick up something for his bike. I took him to lunch next door and we sat and talked for well over an hour. I’m glad he got to see SOME family on his birthday…even if it was just me.

I knew I wanted to post something here to remember this day, and I’ve been considering how best to do that for the better part of the last month. I can’t tell you how many times I started this post only to send it off to the recycle bin. So, here goes.

In the spirit of the way Greg lived his life, instead of looking at all the ways in which we miss him, here is a list of 23 things I love(d) about Greg…

1. He would talk so fast his words would practically trip over themselves.
2. Checking an incoming text messages on my cell phone and seeing him in his blue hair.
3. His crazy t-shirts.
4. His ability to get away with darn near anything!
5. His pointy chin.
6. He was almost always laughing about something.
7. He had more energy than the rest of the family combined.
8. His brilliant mind.
9. His outgoing voicemail message. Even now it makes me laugh. It was so Greg.
10. His absolute enthusiasm for anything he enjoyed and his willingness to explain it in terms that wouldn’t make people’s (my) head explode.
11. His sense of the absurd and willingness to be silly. And allow photographic evidence.
12. His ability to take really great self portraits.
13. Getting an instant message from him one day saying “I need help translating some Latin and I thought of you.”
14. His willingness to take off on an adventure, like traveling to Europe for school, or Hawaii to sky dive.
15. His skill at flipping off a camera…A skill equaled only by his father and siblings.
16. His appreciation of and love for his family and friends.
17. His beautiful eyes.
18. His stupid, silly, groan-inducing jokes.
19. His open mind.
20. An innate curiosity about how things worked.
21. His sense of humor about himself and willingness to laugh at himself.
22. His love of all kinds of music (Except country!)
23. His amazing heart.

Happy birthday, Gregger. You are loved and you are missed every single day.

Love, Cousin Lynda

aka Lynda the Guppy
aka The Fish With Sticks