Commemorative Speech
“Old man take a look at my life I’m a lot like you” is the first line of the second chorus in Neil Young’s timeless hit, Old Man. Some people look up to great influences such as Julia Childs, if your in to cooking, or Andy Worhall, if your into art, or Kobe Bryant, if you’re into sports. But for me, my greatest influence is my father and best friend, Gregory Robert Simms. As a father he has taught me how to be the best man possible, as a best friend, he is the one person I can share anything with, who will listen and understand with an open heart and loving grace. My dad is the one person that has influenced me so much, I sometimes find myself accidently buying pleaded shorts.
Like most kids, sports played a huge roll in my day to day life and as a result it played a huge roll in my dads as well. Before I continue I must share with you a brief history on my dads affiliation with sports.
My dad, Greg, or, as his childhood friends call him “Arty”, was no ordinary athlete, he was an extraordinary one. As an elementary aged kid, my dad was forced to play in older, better divisions in his baseball, football, and hockey leagues. For example, when he was nine, the coaches committee of his little league baseball combine collectively agreed that he had to play in the twelve year old division. Not only did he move up 3 age groups, he dominated it. When he pitched he did so well that after a couple games, the coaches committee gathered again and agreed that if he were to pitch in another game, it would have to be with his opposite hand. This process basically continued all the way until he got to high school. My dad did not go to college, because he began a career that would later flourish, so his sports days ended in there. With that said I am sure you can now imagine how involved my dad was in my life, especially when it came to sports.
Through my elementary sports career, my dad embedded phrases such as “Attitude is everything” , “when the going gets tough the tough get going”, and my favorite of his unsolicited inspiring, educational sayings, “everyday is a holiday”. His life is a true representation of each of those sayings and with no doubt in my mind, I know that they have greatly impacted my life.
You see my dad like many other parents is one who wants to be apart of every aspect of my life and the experiences that go along with it. From the time I could first converse, through today, every conversation my dad asks the most non- annoying two word question, “whats new?” NOTHING! I never say it but I always think it. If he asks twice in one day I get into a bit of trouble. But seriously, if he asks and I say “not too much”, he’ll start asking more detailed questions like; “what did you eat? “Did you cook it?” “How did you make it” “Whats her name”, etc, I’m sure you all know how that goes.
Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
My dad is my best friend. The change from child to teen is big, but the transformation from non-Christian to Christian is even bigger. That is something my dad and I went through together.
In the summer of 2009 some events occurred within my family that led to all of us, my mom Kathy, my brother Justin, my sister Whitney, my dad, and myself to Christ, but at different times. My mom began an immediate, intense relationship with Jesus, and since my brother and sister were both out of the house, in college, my dad realized that we needed to do the same thing, not only because we felt it was right but because we knew my mom was now on the right page, and we needed to be on the same one. As a result of our close friendship, my dad and I decided to get baptized together in the ocean of the beach we grew up going to, the beach where he taught me to surf, Burnout Beach, in Torrance, California. It was a beautiful moment in time with my dad. We walked from the sand to the water one person, and then rose from the water a new one. From that time on, things began to change, in a new way. I had always thought my dad was a generous man, it is one of his qualities I admire most, with this new life change, many of my dad’s life endeavors blossomed.
My dad was in the restaurant industry for many years, but when I was born, he left the family business and he began his own landscape company. After fourteen years of doing, well, in that career, when he became a Christian, he did incredible. Watching his business see- saw back and forth for many years wasn’t always easy. We went through times of struggle, but my dad always made sure we were happy as a family. But during this time of transformation, I had the opporunity to watch him become who he is well known for today.
My dad is easily one of the most artistic people I have ever met. If you were to see him on the street, you would be able to guess he is an artist. On an average day, you can catch him wearing bright orange polo shorts, a “Jams” brand shirt, “yeah, you have never heard of a brand called “Jams” because they only sell the most bright, unique shirts in all of America, they are so unique, most people don’t buy them, except for my dad. Picture a Reyne Spooner on a steroids. Anyways, my dad is one of those people who could literally turn anything ugly into something beautiful. He can show up at someone’s house for the first time that desperately needs his help, and within the first five minutes of seeing what he’s got to work with, he’ll know what he wants to do and on a radical level. My dad’s career hasn’t become successful solely because of his talent, but because of who he is as a person. He has this innate ability to put himself in others people’s shoes, which may not sound so crazy but when you think about it, it’s a pretty difficult task. For instance, one of his major clients, is Barbara Streisand, the famous singer and actress. I remember when he first started his project on her already existing beautiful home, once a week, he would share with our family how another guy quit the job because Barbra was too annoying or too difficult to work with. My dad has been working with Barbra Streisand for five years now. His ability to put himself in other people’s shoes has gotten him far because he can relate to people on a level they are comfortable with. If my dad had a facebook, he would probably have more friends than me and half of them would be people you see in People Magazine. My dad has developed greatly in his business, when he began he was the guy outside the lower class apartment complex mowing the sidewalk grass, and now you can find him at the homes of entertainers such as Edward Roski, Barbra Streisand, Kenny G, and Julia Roberts.
It has been an honor and real experience watching my dad grow with his company. I believe he has taught me something not many people can clearly provide; an example of how hard work, dedication, and a faith in Christ can take you anywhere you want to go. Because of my dad, a perfect picture has been painted in my life and now I know what it takes to achieve my goals.
I mentioned earlier that dad’s quality I most admire is his generosity. From an early age I remember my dad helping out as much as he could in all areas of
family and community life. My dad was an athlete, he coached me in all sports up until I was about ten. At that point he retired from being the coach and took on the responsibility of President of our local baseball little league, Torrance American Baseball. That’s when he changed forever how a baseball league is run.
For example on opening day my dad hired the original dodger stadium peanut tosser and salesman, Paul Stevens, to toss bags of peanuts to the wide variety of attendees that day. Many fathers snatched a bag and shed a tear because of the scene in their head, when they were kids with their dads at dodger games grabbing a bag of peanuts. Needles to say, people still to this day talk about the three wonderful years my dad was president.
My dad’s generosity never stopped there though, there are constantly people staying at our house in Los Angeles. On any given day its normal to expect at least one other person, I typically don’t know, staying a my house. With the house my dad built, he provides a place for people a place to stay. My dad never charges anyone to stay with us and he makes dinner that night, for the appropriate amount of people. Not many people can do that.
My dad, Gregory Robert Simms, is my father and best friend. He has shown, provided, and explained to me what it takes to live a healthy, godly lifestyle. He is someone who touches new lives everyday with his joyful spirit. People don’t just forget about a person like my dad, they remember him, everyone from the “homies” who work at the grungy rock yard to the stars of Beverly Hills. My dad has not only made an impact on my life, he makes an impact on everyone he meets. Finally, as a best friend, I get to still learn “whats new” from him everyday.
