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'We miss
you, man!' with love forever,
Bruce Briscoe
Below are some
comments I've received about Greg. You're welcome to email me with
any comments (Bruce
Briscoe):
Well here it is a
year to the day that we all lost a great friend, lover, father, son,
man.
There
hasn't been a day in the past year that I didn't think about
Greg and how much we have all lost and how
much I miss his friendship and love. I have never felt so
comfortable in my life with a love that I could be 100% myself and be
totally accepted for just that.
I recently allowed
myself to listen to our favorite CD, Rod Stewart's "Great American
Song Book", I haven't listened to it since Greg
passed. I have such great memories of Greg
his mother Mary and I living on the Ranch in Sanger including the time
I put the Rod Stewart CD on and Greg and I
were cooking together. A really sweet song came on and Mary started
to sing it, I nudged Greg and said: "honey
why don't you go ask your Mom to dance?" He did just that and they
both looked so happy. Family was very important to
Greg and I am very glad that Mary and I
are still close.
I Miss you
Greg! Tears in my eyes and a lump
in my throat, knowing that my love is in a better place.
This is a Cherokee
Poem that I came across a few years ago, I put it on the refrigerator
at the ranch in Sanger to remind us all to chose our paths carefully.
There is a
story about an old Cherokee chief who is teaching his grandson about
life. He tells him, "A fight is going on inside of me. It is a
terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil-he is anger,
envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,
inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self doubt and ego. The
other is good-he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and
faith. The same fight is going on inside you and inside every other
person too."
The grandson thought about this for a minute, then turned to his
grandfather and asked, "Which wolf will win?"
The wise old chief turned to his grandson and replied simply, "The one
you feed."
I think
Greg chose the later of the two for the
most part, I believe that is why I fell in love with him!
I sent this out one the one year anniversary
(Jan 21) of Greg's death:
To all of the friends
of Greg,
It's been a year since Greg left us. I want to thank all of you for
sending comments about him. I still really miss him, his smile, his
energy, his cooking, and his friendship and love.
I'd like to propose that this month each of us spends a minute thinking
of Greg and having some memories of great times spent with him. I'd
also like to propose that you watch his favorite movie (rent it if you
must): The Princess Bride. He and I watched it many times together and
laughed and then would shared some of the funny lines.
Please pass this email on to other FOG (friends of Greg).
Bruce
We went to Mary's in
Pitt around the holidays when Greg and his fiance were there so Greg
could our son Dominic - I think Dom was 1 so it had to be 2003. I can't
believe I couldn't track him down for a couple of years. And surprised
he hadn't reached out to us. I do remember getting pics of grand
children at one point. Please tell me what's been going on with him and
how did he die?
Theresa
I can attest that spending just one
moment, one meal, one evening, or one entire night in the presence of
Greg Lillian was time well spent! I was fortunate; I was able to do all
four at the same time!
He had the gift of being able to make those around him laugh and enjoy
the best that life has to offer.
Twenty some years ago, I spent a measly fifteen consecutive hours in his
presence, i.e., dinner, evening, and the late night/early hours of the
morning as Greg's guest at the Franciscan Winery guest house on Hiway
29. Greg cooked dinner while Jim Smith (Wine Warehouse) and I got in his
way and drank more than our fair share of wine.
And the narrative stories he told, many augmented with a skit, were
hilarious! In fact, they were so good that the three of us never went to
bed that night. If Jim Smith had told me that Greg was a professional
comedian from the Comedy Club in LA, I would have believed him. Greg was
that good! And when we finally stopped laughing, it was 9:00 AM in the
morning!
As the three of us walked discreetly to our respective cars in the
parking lot that morning, so as to not alert others just coming to work
that we had been "working" all night, I thought to myself, "I can't
believe I had the energy to stay up all night! I haven't done that in a
while!" Ah, such was the life of two sellers and a buyer!
In the twenty odd years since that night, I never forgot about it, nor
Greg Lillian. My night with him was fodder for some of my future stories
while working in the wine business.
So, when I found out two nights ago that he had passed, I felt a lot of
pain, some for me, and some for him.
Vaya con Dios, Greg.
Thanks for sharing your space and time that wonderful night so many
years ago; the dinner, your stories, and the skits were inspirational
and helped nourish my desires to train sales personnel to think beyond a
sales script!
You were good!! I never forgot your name nor who you were!
Peace,
Kenneth O'Farrell
Calistoga, CA
December 30, 2007
I’m happy I could meet him just only
the one time last year & he was so nice when he give me a flower, you
remember? He bought two flowers for me one & for his girlfriend one:-)
Honey I pray to GOD to give him a good place like he had before he was
born in the world. I know that there is nothing we can't do about when
GOD calls somebody to come back, because everything that happens in the
world, only GOD has the secret you know:-(
People only can hope, pray & try because we don't know what good reason
God has for people:-(
I believe Greg has a good place in GOD’s hands :-)
Yanti Briscoe
I always liked Greg!
Nina
Thank you, Bruce, for sharing. I'll
ensure that Ashley, Greg's daughter, knows about your site as well. I
haven't heard yet if they intend to hold a memorial for him here; I
think his mom will want to bury him back in Pittsburg in the family
plot. It was such a shock to them--to all of us. Whatever his demons
were, they are no more.
Kathleen
Sorry to hear of your loss. If he had your sense of
humor then I'm sure he will be missed.
Jack
There has never been anyone quite like
Greg Lillion. His enthusiasm for life and the wine business instantly
got my attention as a rookie sales person at Southern Wine and Spirits
in San Lorenzo in February 1987. Greg was “The Superstar” . . . the
most dominant sales person at this little upstart distributor. His
energy, spirit and confidence helped inspire many of us who had no idea
what to do, where to go, or how to sell. He was simply the best. Over
the years, Greg and I would get together periodically in Napa, San
Francisco or most recently Las Vegas. He always had great stories and
great memories to share. His passing, while sad and tragic, brings
thoughts of his infectious spirit to mind which will always make me
smile.
Bob Cranston
Like you Bruce, I remember Greg for
his amazing sense of humor. He had the most infectious laugh! When
Greg was coming over you always knew the evening would be a blast! We
used to plan elaborate dinner parties and cook and drink wine all
night. He was so fun! Greg was also a very caring and compassionate
man. I used to seek his advice when I was having troubles and he was
never too busy to stop and listen and help in whatever way he could. He
contributed greatly to my life and I will miss him.
Denise Craft Swadish
I can’t say that I knew Greg all that
well but I did know him. and from what I knew of him, he was a wonderful
person and a great parent as well as grandparent. He always laughed and
wanted to be with the children who brought wonderfully big smiles to his
face. He never singled anyone out and was more than willing to help if
asked. Even though I didn’t get to know him as most of you did, I
do know the people who loved him. And if those people are any kind of
reflection of him, then I also know that he will always be here with us.
Julie Berger Berger
Rarely, like Greg, I am ever speechless, but what can be said about
him? I admire those that go out of their way to stay in touch with
special people; unfortunately, I am not good at it. However Greg seemed
to crisscross in and out of so many people's lives and though time
always passed between our visits, Greg's light heart and priceless sense
of humor was welcome whenever I was fortunate enough to run into him. He
was truly one who you take for granted will always be present throughout
our lives and to know he will never again regale us with his wit and
compassion will be a longtime struggle. Until we meet again Greg, you
will be so sorely missed.
Michael
I just want to thank you for creating this beautiful site about my
father! As you can imagine we were and still are in total shock over his
death. It is wonderful to see that so many others loved and cared for
him too! My mother married Greg when I was just 4 years old. He
instantly became my father. He is the man I grew up calling dad, he is
the man who so greatly influenced my life and guided me in the right
direction. As the rest of you I have so many wonderful memories of him.
I'll never forget the day he taught me to ride my bike. He promised he
wouldn't let go and sure enough when I turned around there he was with
that grin on his face, he had let go and I was riding all by myself. I
freaked out of course and crashed into someone’s door! As you can
imagine we shared so many special times together as did the rest of you.Although he died a tragic death I take comfort in knowing he is at
peace now. So cheers to the man who taught me how to tie my shoes, the
man who stood next to me at my graduation, the man who bought me my
first car, the man who danced with me at my wedding, the man who was
always there for me and will always be in my heart, GREG LILLION!
I love you dad, Danielle
I am Tom Lempp, one of Greg's best friends while we were growing up. Even though I have not seen him in a number of years he was in my thoughts. I will always cherish the great times we had as kids and teenagers back in PA and remember the fun times we had playing baseball, sledding and just messing around. I am sure Greg is in a better place and we will be praying for his family.
Greg and I worked at Vintage Wine Merchants in the '80's - he in Calif and I was in Southeast US. When VWM folded, I though Greg went to work for one of the wineries VWM had represented - Guenoc. I had a second run with Guenoc myself. VWM was a good company and we worked with a great guy named Tom Shelton who just passed away of brain cancer last Saturday in Napa. In talking with a few mutual friends of Tom's I just learned of Greg's passing. Last contact I had with Greg albeit briefly, he and Kurt Charles were in the wine brokerage business together. That was maybe 5 years ago. I could not discern from the website when Greg passed away. If I am correct Greg, David Petty, and now Tom Shelton were all at Guenoc and have left this world way too soon!
To add your own personal comments, memories,
stories, etc., email me:(Bruce
Briscoe)
I want to thank Jim Pire for the pictures
he had of Greg. To see others, go to Jim's site at
http://theDude.com and
do a search for "greg". |
