DAY 5:
Today I am thankful for... my brother. As a little girl, I always felt so special because Greg would let me come into his room and watch Star Trek with him. It was so exciting, because Greg was the ultimate "trekkie", back before "trekkies" were cool. Of course, this was back in the dinosaur days, so there weren\"t VCRs or DVRs. But, where there is a will, there is always a way. Greg proved that. He would set his cassette tape recorder right beside the tv, and during the shows, he would record. He\"d threaten me with my life if I talked during "recording". I\"d just about burst, holding all my words in, waiting for the commercials when I could FINALLY talk and voice my opinions! It was torture waiting, but oh man, I loved watching those shows with him.
Greg also had a "magic" dresser. When he was young, you could remove the top dresser drawer, and there was always candy hiding under there! As he got older, there was even better treasure under there, because it was money. Haha! He thought he was so clever, but the whole family knew it was there. (By the way, just in case a robber or someone else wants to know, he doesn\"t do that anymore. LOL).
Greg wasn\"t so good at hiding his candy and money, but one thing he was VERY good at hiding was his talent. We didn\"t know that he could sing until he was a junior in high school and got a solo in choir. We were so shocked! He has a great voice. As he got older, he sang in some church singings and wrote some songs. To this day, when I hear any of those songs, I tear up immediately.
Greg was always into electronics. He had to be the first to get anything new that came on the market. I remember his first big screen tv. Man, that thing was HUGE. I think it took up a good 5 square feet of his living room, but it was awesome! I remember that he also had "Colecovision"... one of the first video game systems. I was so jealous!
Greg moved away when I was in my 20s. He and my sister-in-law lived in Provo, Utah for many years, and then they moved to Rotterdam, Holland, The Netherlands, for several more years. During that time, we never got to see them as much as we would have liked. About 3 years ago, they felt that it was time to "come home", and we were so thankful to see them move back to Oklahoma.
When our Dad had his heart attack last November, it threw us all for a loop, but Greg stepped up and was there for Dad all the way. He took such good care of Dad, and helped him to keep his dignity to the end. Greg showed love, care, kindness, patience and compassion... all the things that Dad had striven to teach us his whole life. Obviously, Greg was a good learner.
Since Dad has been gone, Greg has striven to keep our family close. He has went out of his way for me, time and time again. I love him with all my heart. He represents all that a big brother should, and I am so thankful that God gave me him in this life.
Greg, Me and Kim
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