In George's Words...

A father of three wonderful children, Becky, Katie, and Christopher; and grandfather of two, Charlotte and Evan, I am a lucky man.

I will be retiring from a 35 year career in the civil service on September 30th. Before I begin my second career (yet to be determined) I will take a few months off and travel across the country on my bicycle to raise awareness for these greyhounds we love so much. I can't tell you how excited I am to be taking this journey, to meet greyhound lovers all over the country and to just "get away from it all."

Sometime in 2001 my ex-wife Deb (who was my wife at the time) walked in the door after a long visit at the rabies clinic with a smile on her face and excitement in her voice. "George you need to get a greyhound!" she said to me. At the time we had several dogs, three cats, sheep, a goat, chickens, ducks, and I'm sure other animals that I cannot recall. "What? Why would I want a greyhound? Something has to die first," was my immediate reaction. Deb had met two greyhounds at the rabies clinic and fell in love with them and their demeanor. After a year of prodding and persuading from her and from my daughter Katie I agreed to just "take a look" at a greyhound. We visited the local rescue agency, Last Lap Greyhound, run by Russ and Erin Cole and almost as soon as I put my eyes on their three greys I said, "I have to have one!" I thought they were the most awesome looking dogs I'd ever seen. And I couldn't get over their calmness. I had no way of knowing how much that split second decision would change my life. I had no way of knowing how much enjoyment I would receive from working with these wonderful animals. And I had no way of knowing how much love I would both give and receive from our eventual dogs, Reuben, Faelon, and later Phoebe; and from the dogs that would eventually touch my life if only for a very short time.

In 2002, after some volunteer work with Last Lap, we founded Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue (GEGR). It was a team effort, but to give credit where it belongs, it was Deb's vision, organizational skills and the ability to work with people that allowed GEGR to flourish. On March 24, 2002 we adopted out our first greyhound, Maddie.

Over the two years I was with GEGR I met some incredibly wonderful people. The volunteers that I worked with, that were, and still are, the backbone of GEGR, are truly fantastic people in their work ethic, their friendship, and their commitment to greyhound rescue. I miss working with them. The adopters that came to GEGR to adopt their greyhound were also wonderful people, some of which became an integral part of GEGR, and some of which I've never seen again.

In 2004 I asked for a separation and my wife and I ultimately divorced, causing Deb to lose the agency she put her heart and soul in for the previous two years. For that, and other things, I will forever be sorry. The wonderful volunteers that had been working with us took the reins and are still running GEGR today, and doing an incredible job. I stayed away from GEGR until just recently and am proud to once again be associated with them.