Mrs. Allan's teary face immediately transformed into a smile and she gave me a big motherly hug. She proceeded to introduce me to the rest of the family as a member of Greg's PostNuke community. Natasha, Greg's good friend, announced, "You are going to be the celebrity in here today." And indeed, in my own way I was. I was privileged and honored to be representing such a large number of PostNuke users and developers who were unable to attend the funeral of the man who was one of the founders of PostNuke.
The funeral service began with a reading from the Bible, followed by prayer and two speaches and a sermon interspersed with choral arrangements. Throughout the funeral service, I was not alone with my inability to hold back the tears. The sanctuary was filled with grieving friends and family. The priest read a part of the message posted by Steve MacGregor as well as a number of comments that had been made on postnuke.com.
Known for his humility, Greg had kept his passion for and efforts toward the development of PostNuke very quiet and was unwilling to let his achievements be know to the majority of his family and friends. His passing and the subsequent revelation to his loved ones brought a measure of surprise to the local community with their introduction to a 13,000+ member community that he had been instrumental in building.
Following the service, I was thanked for attending and told that it meant a great deal to the family and loved ones to have a representative of the PostNuke community there for Greg's funeral. However I had one more mission to complete: Meaford.
Meaford is only about a 20 minute drive, so I decided to go and investigate the places where adam_baum lived, worked, and found inspiration through his family and friends.
I didn't much feel like a tourist on my first visit to Meaford. The welcoming sign, the streets, the buildings somehow had a different meaning than they would have at any other time and under different circumstances. The town has a nice harbor and a beautiful view of the Georgian Bay. It was a friendly and peaceful village, much like Greg who lived there. Passing by a gas station I remembered that Greg used to work at one and often code at work as well. I walked in the gas station and asked if they knew of Greg Allan. They knew him and of his tragic death. They told me that the place he worked was on the other side of town. I proceeded to drive to what looked like the other side of town and found another gas station which may in fact turn out to be the filling station where he worked.
As I left Meaford and headed home I kept thinking of all the things that were said, and I wish that I had met Greg before this happened. I knew him very little, but his impact was awesome. You can view the pictures of Greg's home town <a href = http://www.fidog.com/romboy/flo/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Photo_Gallery&file=index&do=showgall&gid=81>here, and read some of the comments that were quoted throughout the service below.
-"An army of a thousand is easy to find, but, ah, how difficult to find a general." (Jonjo)
-"The internet would only be a sticky bunch of wires without the open-minded passion from personalities like Greg Allan." (Tomster)
-"Though only speaking with him through a computerized medium, I know he was one of the "good guys" that the world needs more of." (paradoxic)
-"It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end - Ursula LeGuin" (vworld)
-"It's nice to know that Greg was loved in the cyber world as much as he was at home. He spoke highly and often about all of you. The "project" was his passion." (Eva Destruckshun)
-"Greg was one of the true gems that you find in people that seem to never have a bad day, nor seem to ever let things bring them down. His outlook and demeanor is my inspiration. If I could be half of what Greg was, I would be a very good man, father, son, and friend." (John Cox)
Florin Racolta
florinel@gto.net