Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.
--Howard Zinn

Last week, we buried my beautiful older brother.  He was, like all people, a complex person, but I think he was universally considered charismatic.  I don't know anyone who ever said no to him or that wasn't won over by him. 

I am struggling to put into words all the emotions that are coursing through my body and brain.  This is what I can handle right now.

At my brother's viewing, funeral mass, burial and bbq celebration of his life, there was a sea of purple shirts representing the Special Olympics of San Gabriel Valley.  They are my nieces teammates, the athletes my brother coached, their parents and families.  They were so loving and giving of their memories of my brother... he ran along side me, cheering me on, one young man shared with my sister.  Another coach told us how he encouraged one young man to get out of his wheelchair and use the walker -- with only one issue unresolved, that my brother hadn't gotten to... putting a light on the walker.

Sweetness exuded from these people, touched by my brother's generosity of spirit.  We knew, sort of, that he had taken a special interest in the group.  We mistakenly believed that it was mostly about how much this was helping his own daughter come into her own.  No, it was more than that ... it was how he had given over and over, in every way possible, to this group of people.  They love my brother -- it is so hard to use the past tense.  And they were so willing to share with us the stories of my brother's generosity, love and dedication.  I can picture Greg's huge smile, and I can hear the encouraging words he showered on them, making them feel at the same time supported and pushed to higher heights.

At the velorio, our family received another gift.  I watched as some young people walked tentatively into the mortuary during the viewing time.  A young woman and a young man -- looked around, and caught my sister-in-law's eye.  They were talking with her so I figured she must know them, but then she brought them up to me.  They told me they were Oxnard College students in the OCTV program.  They told me how he had come forward to help the students fight for the program when the district wanted to use it as the means for balancing the budget.  They told me the administration had said the program did not produce success stories... but they said, my brother was one.  And he was willing to help -- not just to fight for the program, but the students themselves.  They told me they needed to go back to school for a class and a meeting, but that they would be back for the velorio.  And, so they did... not just these two but others.  Not knowing anyone in the building, having just met my brother some of them a year ago, some of them months ago ... they went to the podium to tell those gathered how much Greg had meant to them, how much he helped them to get to know the industry, how he shared work leads, invited them on shoots, and promoted them despite the fact that this was a competitive industry.

Greg with his family this summer.

We knew my brother was generous -- that he, like my dad, would take the shirt off his back for another without a second thought.  But we really had no idea just how many lives he had touched.  Even before we got the gifts of these tributes to my brother, my little sister had decided we needed to use Greg as an example of how we can all give back ... or pay it forward.  She dreamed up this idea to create flags to distribute at the beach party.  My older sister also wanted to have a poster with a picture of Greg that people could sign.  My niece "volunteered" to draw the picture -- and she made a gorgeous rendering of his smiling face, arms crossed in his trademark gesture, and she added him leaning up against a tree.

Then, we gathered seeds, stuffed them into straws, and made flags to adorn them.  On the front side of the flag, under "Greg's Giving Garden," we put logos for my brother's favorite teams:  [Los Angeles] Raiders, LA Lakers, LA Dodgers, and the San Gabriel Valley Special Olympics.

This is what we wrote on the back of the cards: 
Greg derived great joy from helping others.  In his spirit, we invite you to get involved in your community:  volunteer at a track meet or a food bank, serve a meal at a homeless shelter… and plant these seeds as a living reminder of Greg's giving spirit.

If you doubt that small acts can transform the world, I introduce you to my brother. May he rest in peace as well as inspire some folks to also perform some small acts.