[nfbmi-talk] Here Is An Article About A Good Blind Guy Who Will Be Missed: FW: [msb-alumni] Fwd: Greg

[Fred Wurtzel]

From: msb-alumni-bounce at freelists.org [mailto:msb-alumni-bounce at freelists.org] On Behalf Of Lucy Edmonds
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2014 7:55 AM
To: msb-alumni at freelists.org
Subject: [msb-alumni] Fwd: Greg

 

Here's an article I found about Greg Brayton. Lucy Edmonds class of 73

Sent from my iPhone


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Edmonds, Lucy (LARA)" <edmondsl2 at michigan.gov>
Date: June 20, 2014 at 7:50:53 AM EDT
To: "'lucyjean11 at gmail.com'" <lucyjean11 at gmail.com>
Subject: Greg

Jim Dove and Brayton perform at a Blind Manís Bluff concert several years ago. Roland Stoy photo

By Jamie Barrand
Posted Jun. 19, 2014 @ 4:13 pm 
Coldwater, Mich. 

Cancer robbed him of his sight before his first birthday, but Greg Brayton was never one to complain about what he didn’t have.

“I did not consider Greg handicapped,” said Brayton’s longtime friend Ron Sistanich. “I could introduce someone to Greg, and if he talked to them for five minutes the next time he was around them he knew exactly who they were. He just used different tools than we do.”

Brayton, a well-known local musician and songwriter, passed away at home in the early hours of Wednesday. He had waged a 12-year battle with cancer.

Brayton was born on July 23, 1955. As an infant he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, an aggressive cancer that affects the eyes. At the age of 8 months, both of Brayton’s eyes were removed.

Brayton married his wife, Sally, on Aug. 4, 1979, and together they raised two sons, Spencer and Jason (both Coldwater High School graduates — Spencer in 2002 and Jason in 2004).

Brayton was able to parlay his love of music — which he said in an interview with gig-booking website Sonicbids began when he was 6 years old and heard the Del Shannon song “Runaway” on the radio — into a career. For many years he and his wife owned and operated local recording studio Brayton and Sons Productions.

Brayton’s unique over-the-top-of-the-guitar playing technique was born out of necessity. While a student at the Michigan School for the Blind he attempted to go down a slide standing up — another student had dared him to do so — and he ended up breaking his arm.

Despite his injury, Brayton continued on with guitar lessons. He found it was less painful to play over the top of the instrument than it was to play with his hand under the guitar neck.

And that was how he played for the rest of his life.

Brayton tried a year of college, majoring in composition at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. College wasn’t for him, though, and he dropped out to form Blind Man’s Bluff, a rock band with which he performed for eight-and-a-half years.

Most recently, Brayton was the leader of the seven-member praise band at the Coldwater United Methodist Church. Every Sunday during contemporary services Brayton would animatedly lead the congregation in upbeat, toe-tapping songs of praise — many of which he composed himself.

Brayton’s and Sistanich’s parents were friends and the two met as toddlers, often going to play dates at each other’s homes.

Despite his blindness, Brayton often bested Sistanich in hide-and-go-seek.

“I’d whine to my mother because Greg could always find me and I could never find him,” Sistanich said with a chuckle.

Sistanich, an acoustic and rhythm guitarist, played numerous gigs with Brayton over the years and is now a member of the praise band Brayton led.

Page 2 of 2 - “We played music together for 45 years,” Sistanich said.

Another member of the praise band is keyboardist Diane Godfrey.

“Greg was a great inspiration,” she said. “He took us the way we were and he nurtured us. He was always very open to other creative spirits.”

Godfrey said music brought out a side of Brayton that was “so bright and happy.”

“There was nothing between him and the music … he saw with the eyes of his heart. He was a strong spirit and a strong talent, and he gave of himself so generously.”

The Rev. Steve Young of the Coldwater UMC agreed.

“Greg brought goodness wherever he went,” Young said. “He was an inspiration; he had his own way of living a very real life without being able to see … and yet, maybe he saw more than any of us did.”

Brayton used his musical talents to better himself and the community in which he lived.

“When he sang, it was for a greater purpose than just singing a song,” Young said. “He was doing it for the lord.”

What Sistanich will miss most about his friend, he said, is Brayton’s “insight into humanity.”

“There’s one thing Greg had over all of us,” Sistanich said softly. “Those of us with sight judge people by what we see … Greg judged people by what he heard and what he felt.”

As much as he loved music, for Brayton it came second to his family.

“He loved being a dad,” Godfrey said. “He loved his boys and he was always encouraging their creativity.’

And everyone knew the Braytons were not just a married couple — they were also the best of friends.

“Greg and Sally were so close,” Godfrey said. “They were such a great couple. She could keep him real and he helped her to be playful, spontaneous and in the moment.”

Young said when he first met Brayton he found it strange that the blind man would often end a visit or conversation with the words, “I’ll see you later.”

“I’m going to miss that phrase,” Young said. “But I have no doubt that the next time I see Greg, he’ll see me, too

By Jamie Barrand
The Daily Reporter - Coldwater, MI

By Jamie Barrand
Posted Jun. 19, 2014 @ 4:13 pm