From Greg’s Mother

What gives me some comfort at this time is visualizing my son, Greg, as a meteor flashing across the sky, leaving a trail of sparks of light.  These sparks of light are in you, his beloved friends and colleagues, and in us, his family.  When I see you or hug you or hear from you, I connect with these sparks and, through them, with my beautiful son.  His life was a gift beyond measure and, for thirty-three years, a blessing beyond compare.

Thank you for your deeply touching and overwhelming demonstration of friendship, love, and support.  Please look for Greg’s sparks within yourself and in each other.

-Rhoda (Greg’s Mom)

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince.  And flights of angels sing
thee to thy rest.” (Hamlet, Act V, Scene ii)

A Message From Greg’s Family On His Birthday

I hope this finds you all well.  Many of you have recently sent very sweet messages around today, Greg’s birthday (March 19).  Your ongoing love and support continues to be greatly appreciated.  To commemorate our beloved Greg on his birthday, my parents, Howard, Stacy, Ariel, Samantha, David, Shelby and I spent the evening together at my parents’ home.  We ordered in Greg’s favorite food to scarf down as soon as possible upon returning to Chicago when he lived away — Mongolian beef, sesame chicken, and chicken fried rice from House of Hunan.  We drank vodka gimlets, one of his favorite drinks.  And we each wrote a note to Greg, attached it to the ribbon of a helium balloon and released them all at once in the sky in Lincoln Park, across from my parents’ apartment, our family home.  We also told some Greg stories.  We said the kaddish. 

While it was obviously a bittersweet day and night, and our lives will now likely always be that way, it was as fitting a way as possible to memorialize our beloved Greg on his birthday and I think he was smiling down at us.  I particularly felt his presence during the balloon part of the evening — when a cluster of balloons that had gotten stuck on the branches of a tall, old tree were blown free into the sky.  We stood watching them float further and further west into the distance and there was something beautiful about that moment.  Maybe we could all do this in years to come on March 19, wherever you are that day . . .

Sending you all wishes of love and peace. 

 -Judith, on behalf of the Feldmans

A Memorial Service for Greg

Greg Feldman Memorial
Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Stanford Medical School held a memorial for Greg on Wednesday, February 9th.  Many of Greg’s friends, classmates, and colleagues attended to remember him.

The memorial was held at:

Paul Berg Conference Room
Li Ka Shing Center (LKSC)
Stanford University School of Medicine
Palo Alto, California

Howard’s Eulogy For Greg

MY BROTHER, GREG

I have never known a kinder, more caring, or more talented human being than my brother, Greg. He provided more joy and more healing to others in his 33 years than most people could ever hope to be able to do in several full lifetimes, and the world is a much better place because of my brother’s daily contributions. We are all so fortunate to have been able to experience his many wonderful gifts.  

Greg, Judith, and I have been blessed to have wonderful parents, grandparents, and extended family. My parents have always provided the 3 of us with so much love and a beautiful daily example of how to care for others. Greg gave his family so much joy and so much love, and we are all so proud of him and the man that he was. Everyone in our family loved him dearly. There really are no words to adequately express just how special he was to me, to Judith, to David and Stacy, to my parents, to my daughters and Shelby, to all of us. 

A note from Greg’s sister Judith and funeral information

A note from Greg’s sister Judith

Dear Friends and Family, By now many of you know of this horrific news. For those of you who are just now learning of it, I apologize for conveying this to you via email and hope you will understand our need to use this mode of communication.

Our beloved Greg — son of Rhoda and Sid, brother to Howard, Stacy, David and me, passed away Monday at the tender age of 33. This loss is tragic and shocking and the significance of this is impossible to convey in words. I am unable to accurately, comprehensively capture in writing the magic that was Greg, but I will write just a few lines here. While I am Greg’s sister and obviously biased, I know it is accurate to say that he was one of the most gifted human beings on the planet — a brilliant, loving, hilarious, creative, witty, inspiring, talented, driven, sensitive, dear, solidly dependable mensch, who made a remarkable impact on everyone with whom he interacted — family, friends, patients, colleagues, acquaintances, teachers — people of all walks of life.