I first met Greg the summer of 2010 when my daughter Marisa brought him home to meet our family. I remember thinking “Gosh he’s so tall. Why do the petite girls always end up with the super-tall guys?”  I also remember thinking “Well, she’s tiny and he’s so tall but they really do make a good-looking couple.” With his good looks and funny, charming personality, I could definitely see why my daughter was attracted to him.

Greg and I spent a lot of time together that summer.  I had some projects around the house I needed help with. Big, strong, agreeable Greg helped me rip up carpets, move furniture and paint rooms and in the process we got to know each other. Eventually he told me about some of the missteps he’d taken in life. You might wonder why a young man recently introduced to his girlfriends’ mother would share things like that. But he told me these things because he loved my daughter, wanted to become a part of our family, and didn’t want there to be any secrets. As we talked about some of the hard times he experienced, Greg always took ownership for the mistakes he made. Never in any conversation did I ever hear him blame anyone else for those mistakes… and I truly respected and admired him for that.

When Greg was away he and I wrote a lot of letters back and forth and I got to know him even better. He told me of his hopes and dreams for the future and how much he was looking forward to that future including being a part of our family. I looked forward to that too because I had come to care deeply for this big, tall, smart, funny young man. When he got back home he was often at our house sharing family meals, and celebrating holidays and special occasions with us.

By this point Greg truly was a member of our family and I loved him as I love my own son and daughter. In the summer of 2012 he even joined us on our annual family reunion vacation. And unbeknownst to everyone but Marisa and Greg, someone else had joined us for that reunion--their unborn child.

From the moment on Father’s day 2012 when Greg learned he was going to become a dad, Greg was in love with his baby. And when an ultrasound revealed that that baby was a boy, Greg was ecstatic. I still have the text he sent to Sharon and me that day. Just three words—“It’s a boy!” Reading those three little words I could feel his joy, excitement, love and pride.

Marisa’s pregnancy was a very high-risk one. She was working as a waitress and being on her feet all day was causing complications. Even though it meant he had to work a second job, Greg had Marisa quit hers so that she and their unborn child could stay healthy and safe. There were many, many doctor visits, sometimes as many as three in one week, and times when she had to be hospitalized. Greg was with her every step of the way, taking her to each appointment and staying overnights in the hospital, where he was fiercely protective of her and their unborn son.

He truly wanted to be the man his family could count on to love, support and protect them. And the love and care he gave to my daughter and their unborn child through this most difficult pregnancy made me love and respect Greg even more.

So here tonight are many people who have known dear Greg longer than I. And I am sure there are a lot of people here who know him much better than I. But other than my dear Marisa, no one else in this room was there in the delivery room to witness--and shared with him--what I know was the most joyous experience of Greg’s life, the birth of their beloved son Cameron.

I’ll never forget the expression on Greg’s face the moment Cameron was born. He was exhausted. We all were, especially poor Marisa after 72 hours of labor. But Greg was SO happy. He kept looking at teeny, tiny newborn Cameron and saying “I love you buddy” over and over again. And then he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said “Look at him, he’s so beautiful. He’s so beautiful. I can’t believe it. I have a son!”

Greg,  there may have been things in your short, sometimes tortured life that you felt you didn’t do well but know that you did the most important thing in your life exceedingly well. You helped create the most perfect little boy, got him here safe, sound and healthy, and showered him with so, so much love every day.

I, like so many other people here, love you. I wish our love had been strong enough to protect you the way you protected Cameron and Marisa. I am so sad that I will never get a big strong hug from you again or that you won’t be physically with us when we celebrate all the milestones in Cameron’s life.

But please know that I am oh so very glad that you came in to my life. My life has been enriched in so many ways by getting to know the beautiful heart and soul of Gregory Scott Goodkowsky. I loved you and I know you loved me too. And that love hasn’t ended on this day when we say our goodbyes to you.

Greg, thank you for that beautiful gift you gave the Friedman, Fowler and Goodkowsky families--precious Cameron. We know that he is the love of your life and we will all love him and protect him here on earth as I know you will do from heaven.  Through him you will live on and I promise you that I will let him know every day what a wonderful man his daddy was and how you were my friend.

May you now rest in peace my dear Greg; your struggles are finally over.

With love, Maureen