Losing a Member

[Vekseid]

Originally posted on May 27th, 2008. This was still rather fresh in our minds, then, and still is for many of us now. She was a wonderful person.



Today is CjaC's birthday.

Or rather, it would be, if she were still with us.

The circumstances of her death are discussed elsewhere. But there were many fine sentiments expressed three months ago, and we feel them still. We sent some letters to her family, but all we can do is treasure that little piece of her soul that she left with us in her eight months here. A few hundred thousand words trapped in time, stories never ended but still a snapshot of a gentle mind.

It's not something you normally think about with one's on-line friends. Words that reach your ears pass, but words on a screen have a life to them that is hard to measure. You can always go back to them, read them again. See where misunderstandings arise and how friendships form, and how, when a little piece of our future is taken from us, we all share a little bit of that pain.

Across thousands of miles of wires, the only indicator of a person's health is what they communicate to you, and even then, only while they are present. Take a bit of time out of your day to cherish everyone you know, because, though remote, you never know when that last chance will be.