Oh where to start...

I am so saddened to hear of Gregory 's passing.

Anyone who knew Greg knows he loved Winnipeg Transit, so naturally our story begins on the 18 Riverbend, when my twins were just babys. He was dressed up in a bear costume and was showing my eldest pictures, that he had taken on his phone. From there, we'd often bump into him on the bus or out in the Riverbend community... and on occasion the Uncity Walmart, because ya know, that was his favorite Walmart.

As life would have it, a few years later we moved into the house across the street from him and boy do I have some stories!

He loved coming over! It turned into an almost daily occurrence.

A lot of the time he didn't even knock so if that door was left unlocked, you'd better believe we'd find him inside the house at sometimes the most inopportune times.

He'd come play tag, or hide and seek with my kids, or join us at the park. He was always lecturing Coltin, who quickly grew taller than him so he started referring to as his "Big Brother", about how he needed to "stop being lazy and help your mum with chores".

Oh how Gregory loved helping...

I'll never forget the time my mum was babysitting while I was at work (he loved her too) and Gregory came over for his daily visit. She phoned me in a panic because while she was tidying the living room, Gregory had decided to help by putting on the dishwasher but somehow he'd flooded it. She sent him and the twins to the basement to play while she mopped up that mess and then once she was done went to check on them, and sweet ol' Greg had decided to help with the laundry, only somehow he'd flooded that as well and used all the clean laundry to dry up the mess.

It was hilarious!

In my time living across the street from Greg, he'd often join us for family bbq's, dinners, and holidays. He quickly became part of our family and even after we moved we tried to stay in touch with him, often bringing him a rootbeer slurpee when I came to visit.

I could go on and on with stories about our time together however, I feel it is more important to note that

Gregory is the inspiration that lead me to joining the Disability and Community Services field. He is the main reason I want to make a difference in the lives of people, such as himself.

Meeting Gregory has made such a huge impact in mine and my boys and families lives, beyond what anyone could imagine, and his memory will forever be in our hearts.