Jeffrey
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2002 10:34 am
Dear Friends
I became close to Jeffrey over the last three years when he moved up to Philadelphia. The day I got a phone call from Jeffrey Greenfield, I thought it was Jordy playing a trick on me, given that Jeffrey had given me the wrong phone number didn't help the conviction of the claim. Jeffrey had moved into an apartment owned by his freind Lenny from Franconia College and also took a job as a doorman in one of Lenny's buildings in town. It was really interesting to be able to walk down the street and be able to see a person who was, in my mind at least, a legend. We hung out, kibbitzed, made phone calls to various camp people (including Peter G. who still asked me why Jordy didn't speak to him anymore.)
Jeffrey's health problems kicked in, he had a lot of complications from the diabetes that forced him to stop working and he wound up in the hospital numerous times. I visited him almost everytime he was in the hospital, including in the intensive care unit after his triple bypass surgery. Jeffrey was amazing in his spirit, no matter how much was going on in his life, no matter how much pain he was in, he always tried to make a joke, make friends with the nurses and orderlies, or just share a general warmth.
Jeffrey had to deal with a lot of physical pain from the numerous operations he had undergone and a while back he was prescribed perscription pain medication to which he became overly dependent and was forced to quit. He stopped taking the meds, but was still in pain and turned to other forms of not-so-legal medication. Jeffrey wound up in a drug and alcohol treatment center, when I asked him how he wound up there he said "I'm no choirboy."
The last I saw Jeff, I picked him up at the center and brought him back to his apartment. I made plans to help him move on Saturday, he was planning on going to Florida, and continue rehab down there. Unfortunately, I never got to see Jeff on the day we planned, I was running late, and Jeff had gone out to pick up the rental van. Jeffrey had also decided to not go to Florida but to move in with a woman he had just met. Admittedly, I was upset that he hadn't told me that earlier as I thought this probably wasn't the best idea. I didn't have too much time to hang around for him to return so I never got a chance to help him or say goodbye.
When I think about camp, about the spirit, about the love of the land, about the humor that ran so deep in our existence there and now, I think about Jeffrey. We became friends when I was in bunk F, at age 11, Jeff and I walked out to the point on the last night of camp before final assembly and we talked about camp history, schtick, and observations about how beautiful it was on our sacred ground. In Philadelphia, Jeffrey always introduced me as his camper (although I was never really his camper, I did give him backrubs for candybars and warm soda when he came up to camp and visited) and that gave a me a great feeling of being forever connected to camp. For me, Jeffrey was the physical embodiment of camp, being with Jeff made me feel as if I was walking up the upper camp bunkline towards the point and looking out over the lake. He will be missed
Nick
nick_cassway@icdc.com
I became close to Jeffrey over the last three years when he moved up to Philadelphia. The day I got a phone call from Jeffrey Greenfield, I thought it was Jordy playing a trick on me, given that Jeffrey had given me the wrong phone number didn't help the conviction of the claim. Jeffrey had moved into an apartment owned by his freind Lenny from Franconia College and also took a job as a doorman in one of Lenny's buildings in town. It was really interesting to be able to walk down the street and be able to see a person who was, in my mind at least, a legend. We hung out, kibbitzed, made phone calls to various camp people (including Peter G. who still asked me why Jordy didn't speak to him anymore.)
Jeffrey's health problems kicked in, he had a lot of complications from the diabetes that forced him to stop working and he wound up in the hospital numerous times. I visited him almost everytime he was in the hospital, including in the intensive care unit after his triple bypass surgery. Jeffrey was amazing in his spirit, no matter how much was going on in his life, no matter how much pain he was in, he always tried to make a joke, make friends with the nurses and orderlies, or just share a general warmth.
Jeffrey had to deal with a lot of physical pain from the numerous operations he had undergone and a while back he was prescribed perscription pain medication to which he became overly dependent and was forced to quit. He stopped taking the meds, but was still in pain and turned to other forms of not-so-legal medication. Jeffrey wound up in a drug and alcohol treatment center, when I asked him how he wound up there he said "I'm no choirboy."
The last I saw Jeff, I picked him up at the center and brought him back to his apartment. I made plans to help him move on Saturday, he was planning on going to Florida, and continue rehab down there. Unfortunately, I never got to see Jeff on the day we planned, I was running late, and Jeff had gone out to pick up the rental van. Jeffrey had also decided to not go to Florida but to move in with a woman he had just met. Admittedly, I was upset that he hadn't told me that earlier as I thought this probably wasn't the best idea. I didn't have too much time to hang around for him to return so I never got a chance to help him or say goodbye.
When I think about camp, about the spirit, about the love of the land, about the humor that ran so deep in our existence there and now, I think about Jeffrey. We became friends when I was in bunk F, at age 11, Jeff and I walked out to the point on the last night of camp before final assembly and we talked about camp history, schtick, and observations about how beautiful it was on our sacred ground. In Philadelphia, Jeffrey always introduced me as his camper (although I was never really his camper, I did give him backrubs for candybars and warm soda when he came up to camp and visited) and that gave a me a great feeling of being forever connected to camp. For me, Jeffrey was the physical embodiment of camp, being with Jeff made me feel as if I was walking up the upper camp bunkline towards the point and looking out over the lake. He will be missed
Nick
nick_cassway@icdc.com