This is a post about Greg Lee, who died just before Halloween, 2024. I miss him. Here's why:

I didn't know him, though I knew of him, until I was one of his roommates at 101B Meadowland Ln, College Station, Texas, in 1992, I think. I was a graduate student, and he was managing the local Radio Shack. Laura's uncle Monroe just moved out, and I needed a place, so I got a bedroom with a loft in it. That was great having all that storage for my stuff, and the living room was large so my stereo and TV, guitar/amp, and my books had a home there.

Greg was tall, kinda handsome, nerdy, friendly, very helpful, and had a cute sorority-type girlfriend, Laura Burks. I remember thinking at the time, "How did that happen?"

We got along great, he and I. He was doing interesting things, and I enjoyed hearing about it. And I suppose a few things I did, like ham radio, stereo, guitar electronics, interested him.

He and Laura got married, and I went to find another apartment. I have no recollection where, because it wasn't as much fun as living at 101B Meadowland. When Greg and Laura got a house in Bryan, I moved back in with two new roommates.

Now, here is where things happened that I could not at the time explain. Greg kept inviting me over for food and movies. This was unusual for me, because I'm autistic and don't make big impressions on people so I don't have many friends, but Greg remained my friend. He's not the first, Bob Perry at A&M did that too, but I never really understood why either of them made that effort. Greg and I remained friends because Greg made it happen. That's the long and short of it. He wanted to be my friend a lot more than I knew how to be a friend back. But I loved having a friend (Bob had moved on to Odessa Texas by then, and he had made that effort, too, so I missed him).  I really enjoyed having the kind of friends that called me up and suggested things to do. Galveston, Houston Space Flight Center, Hanging out with Laura's folks, all memories I still carry with me. Thanksgiving when Greg fried his first turkey (it didn't go so well--the bird was wet). Greg and Laura liked dancing, but they didn't try too hard to haul me into that; I don't have that kind of coordination.

Greg graduated with a business degree and got a job in Kansas City in tech management. A good job. He worked hard. I graduated and moved to South Dakota State University, straight north of Greg on I-29. Come Thanksgiving, I got a call from Greg inviting me down. Every year I was there. Those trips were so much fun. I met two of his brothers, one a locomotive engineer, one a KC building inspector. That's where I found Greg's interest in RC model flying. A nice thanksgiving at Greg's folks one year. His mom made some really great beans. His stepdad was into restoring old John Deere tractors, which I thought was awesome.

When I moved back to Utah (Utah Valley State College, now Utah Valley University) distance kept us apart too much. Greg and Laura came out to Utah twice, and stayed with me, and I went back there once when a failed romance left me with lots of airline credit. He and Laura took me to my first MLB baseball game, KC Royals vs the Detroit Tigers, when KC won on a Salvy home run. I've been a Royals fan, and a baseball fan, ever since.

I'm forever grateful that Greg wanted to be my friend. I'm grateful that he took the time and effort to be my friend when I wasn't very good at it. I miss him.

But I expect that one day, when I die, in that celestial world I'll greet my parents and family, and Greg will be there in the background, waiting for all the "hellos" to finish. Then he'll come up, give me a hug, and take me around to show me how everything works up there. That's the sort of thing he'd enjoy. And I look forward to it.

I just looked and can't find any of the pictures I took of his family. They are somewhere, I hope. Laura has some still.

Here is a link to his memorial page: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/gladstone-mo/gregory-lee-12055841