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A special friendship

Contributed by: Sylvia Plumery on 7/21/2006

We moved to The Pinery in 1979 when Gary, our son who was born with Downs Syndrome, was 19 years old. At that time, he was in a Special Education Class at Overland High School. We were very concerned at the time that he might feel lost since he would not know anyone in our neighborhood. That concern became unfounded, since our neighbors and new friends welcomed him with open arms.

There was one special family -- Sandy and Bruce Wilken and their two sons, Jeff and Matt, who turned out to be like a second family to Gary. When we first met the Wilkens, Jeff, who was 11 years old and Matt, who was 7 years old, immediately began including Gary in their activities. They even shared their time with their grandparents, who also lived in the Pinery. They rode bikes, played football and basketball, golfed, swam and fished in the Pinery Lake. This made Gary one very happy guy!

Bruce told us that every night Gary (after he had eaten his dinner at home) would entertain them with country music from his bike radio, while he rode back and forth on his bike, waiting for the boys to finish their dinner.

When the boys grew older and went off to college, Gary had to make a big adjustment. But whenever the boys were home on breaks, they would always call Gary and invite him over to play ball. Luckily, during that time, Gary was very active in the Special Olympics, competing in bowling, swimming, as well as going to dances with his friends in Parker. He also had a job at McDonalds in Parker, where he worked for 15+ years.

Jeff and Matt both later graduated with masters degrees in Audiology, and have become successful businessmen. They are both now happily married with five beautiful children between them. They invited Gary to be an usher at their weddings and he attended both of their Rehearsal Dinners.

As we were sitting at Jeff's rehearsal dinner at the Pinery, Gary stood up and asked if he could give a toast. He gave the most touching toast to Jeff and Matt, professing his appreciation for their friendship. He said that he had a lot of memories of them taking him fishing, golfing and swimming and he really missed them a lot. He then told them he hoped they would have a happy marriage. I can tell you there wasn't a dry eye in the room. He also performed his famous John Travolta Grease Lightning dance routine at their weddings, which was a big hit. In fact, during one of the dance routines, the button on his tuxedo pants popped open, and his pants dropped to his knees. Not to worry, though, Gary pulled up his pants, and without missing a beat, finished his dance.

Gary died on Dec. 9, 2000. As I look back, it makes me feel great that he was able to tell them in his own words how he felt about them before he died. Our family will be forever grateful to the Wilken family who truly made an impact on Gary's life.

In honor of Gary's life and in order to help developmentally disabled individuals in the Arapahoe & Douglas County area to have activities/events to enrich their lives, we will be holding our fifth Annual GPF Golf Tournament on Aug. 21 at the Pinery Country Club at 6900 E. Pinery Parkway.

The format is a four person scramble with a 8 a.m. shotgun start. For more information on the tournament including, registering to play, donating auction/raffle items, sponsorship opportunities, etc., please e-mail Rich Plumery at plumery@aol.com or call Sylvia or Carl Plumery at 303-841-4896. For more on the Gary Plumery Foundation, visit www.plumeryfoundation.org.

Donations can be sent to The Gary Plumery Foundation, 7119 E. Mountain Brush Circle, Littleton, CO 80130


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Showing 1-10 of 12 comments
Submitted By: Jeremy Davis
posted on 7/31/2006 @ 5:41:18 PM
Rated Story
A good friend means everything, this story touches a wonderful aspect of life.
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Submitted By: Dawn Josey
posted on 7/25/2006 @ 11:28:47 AM
Rated Story
Great story! Gary continues to shine and to teach us all with his touching stories. Keep them coming. They uplift us all :)
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Submitted By: Pam Coffey
posted on 7/25/2006 @ 10:24:13 AM
Rated Story
The Gary Plumery story touched my heart and moved me to tears. I will continue to support The Plumery Foundation and the many great contributions they make to a very special group of people.
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Submitted By: Joe McCarthy
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 1:15:07 PM
Rated Story
Great story !
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Submitted By: Candi McCarthy
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 12:53:32 PM
Rated Story
I love to hear all of Gary's stories!
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Submitted By: Patti Tierney Addesso
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 12:22:49 PM
Rated Story
What a great story, leave it to my cousin Gary to help remind us of how important it is to make sure that we tell the people we care about just how much they mean to us.
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Submitted By: Marilyn Haugh
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 10:43:52 AM
Rated Story
This is a beautiful story. We sometimes forget what a difference that people can make in our lives.
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Submitted By: Sue McGettigan
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 9:14:18 AM
Rated Story
Gary was very special. This is a wonderful, loving story.
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Submitted By: Christine Jenkins
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 8:18:30 AM
Rated Story
A very touching story.
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Submitted By: Kevin Kassner
posted on 7/24/2006 @ 8:17:15 AM
(Not Rated)
What a touching story. The world needs more stories like this one.
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Showing 1-10 of 12 comments
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Sylvia Plumery

Parker , CO

Sylvia Plumery has posted 5 stories and 1 comment since joining on 11/22/2005. Sylvia Plumery 's average story rating is 5.
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