...And I've thought a lot about
Mark Wayne Gregory today, and over the past few days too.
There's a strange consolation in realizing that he passed away 12 year ago. I started thinking back to how much time we spent together, and how our paths crossed in the first place, and, unfortunately, how our "lives got in the way" once I was in school and he had moved down to North Carolina. But I still think about him, and I'm forever grateful to him for showing me the true meaning of Bravery. -As well as sharing his massive collection of LPs: cast albums, vocalists, classic disco, even opera. I realized that we had only really known each other "actively" for about three years, but those three years were filled with so many life experiences for both of us.
I was one of his "chauffeurs" when he was dealing with the government lawsuit. I was there when his partner, Larry, died. I was there when we sent off Larry's Quilt Panel to the Names Project, and when, after searching unsuccessfully for a couple of anxious minutes, we spotted Larry's panel being unfurled on the National Mall. He was there the one time I "ran away" from home. He was there when we saw
Les Miserables for the first time, and the third(!) time. -I would have never noticed what Valjean was packing in his chest during the Act One finale of
Les Miserables. Something so small, but at the same time so big, so meaningful. And I know he was there when I just happened to come across his obituary years later, which then allowed me to properly say, "Thank You and Goodbye", to him during his Memorial Service - which happened to coincide with the final(?) display of the Quilt on the National Mall. That turned out to be a Beautiful weekend in many respects. A couple of Beautiful days for a Beautiful Person. And thousands upon thousands of other Beautiful People.
