Steven Harold Nelson (August 23^rd 2002, aged 48)

Steve was once a tall and physically powerful man but after years of confinement he found his power in information and his strength in knowledge. He constantly researched and collected information - seeking out every detail on issues that were important to him. Steve was a problem solver, and nothing went without challenge for improvement. He had an ability to come up with solutions that others couldn't conceive.  His beliefs and understanding were not common to many and appreciated by few. He was creative and industrious. Steve was always true to himself and often chose a "different path" when following his convictions and beliefs.

Steve had a passion for music, ALL music. Music was a place where he could either find himself ~ or lose himself. It was something he loved to share and a way for him to connect with many. Other passions of Steve's were food and sleep ~ he needed large quantities of both.  He would drive to the Dairy Queen in Orangeville because they made the best Peanut Buster Parfaits - his favourite. He loved sleep so much it was often impossible to wake him up, even the Big Ben clock mom got him didn't always work. He would even have a conversation with her and assure her he was awake for work, only to go back to sleep!

He was reckless and wild in his prime, always seeking to satisfy his sense of adventure. Always the rebel and non-conformist he was proud to display his attitudes on T-Shirts and buttons. He was also passionate about getting the real truth behind a scandal or cause, seeking to understand the other side.

His sense for adventure took him many places, including a motorcycle journey to the Grand Canyon and Arizona. It took him off-roading with his Bronco 4 X 4 ~ proud because he never got stuck and enjoying the triumph when others did. It also took him off-roading in his Pinto, removing the doors and driving along side his buddies snowmobiles.  When he matured, his adventures took him deep into the fields of Brampton - with a metal detector. But, like everything else in Steve's life, he took this hobby seriously. He thoroughly researched Brampton's history and ordered maps of early Brampton from the archives because he wanted even his treasure searching to be both purposeful and meaningful.

Steve wasn't afraid of anything - because he faced everything with curiosity and found strength in knowing everything and anything from MS to the underground and the occults. He had a thirst for the obscure and the eccentric ~ there was power in knowledge. He created a personal dictionary and when he came across a word he didn't know, he looked it up, used it and then meticulously logged it in his dictionary along with the definition.

Steve possessed a wonderful sense of humour and just like his dad ~ he was often unable to contain himself while he recited a funny story, he would crack up and could barely get through it. Watching him was often what made others laugh. He was a prankster and often the funny stories were about situations he was an instigator of - he was never short of ideas and clever pranks.

His working life started in a suit and tie working part-time in the men's department of Eatons, followed by a summer job as a Junior Forest Ranger in Wawa. His first full time job was with CN in Montreal at the age of 16 where he earned the record for highest absenteeism.   Steve always had better things to do than the status quo and Montreal was an exciting place for him to live.

At the age of 25, Steve decided to return to college for a two-year program in Heavy Duty Equipment Operation and received his diploma in 1981.  Among other jobs, Steve worked as a Millrights Helper at the airport, where he bugged them to institute an apprenticeship program. In an effort to "shut him up" he was offered the opportunity to write an upcoming Millright exam, which he passed with flying colours and received his Millright certification.

He was diagnosed with MS in 1985 and a year later was receiving disability benefits, unable to continue work in his occupation.

MS gave Steve's life direction and purpose he hadn't had before.  He gave up television and movies - things he didn't have time for because he needed to have his mind clear to think. He worked and studied for the benefit of others and had several articles published in the "Townsend Newsletter" for Doctors and Patients.

Steve was a very active member of more than one MS Support News Group ~ sharing his wit, wisdom and sense of humour to develop many friendships and help others through his knowledge and experiences.

We have received many messages and kind words ~ some of which speak to the way Steve touched others, even though he never met them. Here are excerpts from some of the emails:

"Steve Nelson contributed a great deal to this newsgroup - wit, humour, poems, kind words and a great knowledge. He was a brave and compassionate man and would often put in a lot of time and effort helping others when his own situation was worse than the people he was helping."

"It seems not long ago that I received a very sincere and supportive personal message from Steve. Like many others I was very much looking forward to Steve's return to the active News Group, and it's difficult to accept that this will never happen. Our deepest condolences, but he will be remembered with respect and fondness by a lot of good people here."

"I kept several of his posts because they made me laugh & uplifted my spirits. Here is part of one of them; **Thought for the day:  "Work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt and dance like no one's watching."**"

"I am crushed, as I know those of you really close to him are.  He has given me many, many insights and laughs over the years and, although he has been physically absent from us for a while, I will feel his spiritual absence more keenly now."

"Through death, we are rid of pain and taxes (hey, even the second ain't bad!); but the one thing that can't be destroyed by death is love: the love we gave to others and the love we got from others. Steve got and gave a lot of love, here. That can't be taken away."

"Steve, I know you're probably up there making God snarf a few times with your wonderful sense of humour... Keep it up, honey. I'll be waiting for it when I get there someday..."

"I didn't know Steve personally but I wish that I had. I'm typing this through tears for someone I never met but wish I had. Steve was a loveable curmudgeon or liked us to think that but I don't think that any of us truly could."

"He was like that Old Uncle who slipped us ginger snaps before dinner because he knew we wanted them and just to tick off our parents a little. But mainly to entertain us and make us happy. Although he would never admit that. We will all miss his ginger snaps."

There is a poem that Steve emailed to his parents late one night about a year and a half ago and we felt it would be fitting to read it today...