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Panda Guy
13 years ago
Panda Guy was one of the first furs I got to know when I started getting involved in the furry fandom. The first time I met him was MFF 2002... but the first time I really got to know him better was AC 2003. That weekend, I've spent a chunk of my time with him and Ocicat and I made an after con road trip to visit him down at his house.
In the many years, PG and I have off and on talked to each other. In the last few years, I got more involved in his life. Being a part of his room at MFM for a few years (and MFF and FCN too), going on his Disney trip, doing more stuff with him at cons and such. He's even helped or influenced me to do stuff that I never thought I would get to do.
Some of my highlights of being with him include that post AC 2003 road trip, the Disney Trip back in 2009, spending many MFMs with him. He even gave me my first chance to do something I've wanted to do for a while and that was to try out an inflatable mascot suit at MFM. That made my con at MFM 2011. I've even gotten gifts from him as a surprise, like the panda and lion puppets he gave me at MFM years back.
Of course, not everything was perfect. I'll admit that we may have drifted apart some in the last year or so. I used to be a regular in his Skype chats, but I wasn't as much. I'm not sure why and I'm not going to dig for a reason. Plus a few other minor wrinkles in our friendship, but we were still friends through the thick and thin. I haven't spoken with him voice-to-voice since April. Haven't seen him in person since MFF last year.
It's too reminicient to what happened with my grandfather. Last time I talked with him face-to-face, he and I were arguing about him going into a nursing home before my move to Indiana. Next time I saw him, it was at his funeral.
I know I've heard from alot of the furs that are close to him and we were a bit of a close nit group. I know that a couple are especially devistated that this happened. Today was hard to work. Even when I finally got my move to my new position at work, I still had a hard time being happy about it. All I could think was of PG and how much of a devistation and a void his loss is going to cause in the fandom. It's already caused a huge ripple among many involved.
It's going to be rough for me for a little while as I get back up to speed once this settles in. I'm afraid though that this is going to take a long while to settle in me that he's gone and we'll never see him again. Please, don't mind it if alot of us are going to be a bit spaced out or just not with it for a while... it's going to take a while for us to finish grieving on his loss.
R.I.P. Jon "Panda Guy" Albers. (1968-2012)
In the many years, PG and I have off and on talked to each other. In the last few years, I got more involved in his life. Being a part of his room at MFM for a few years (and MFF and FCN too), going on his Disney trip, doing more stuff with him at cons and such. He's even helped or influenced me to do stuff that I never thought I would get to do.
Some of my highlights of being with him include that post AC 2003 road trip, the Disney Trip back in 2009, spending many MFMs with him. He even gave me my first chance to do something I've wanted to do for a while and that was to try out an inflatable mascot suit at MFM. That made my con at MFM 2011. I've even gotten gifts from him as a surprise, like the panda and lion puppets he gave me at MFM years back.
Of course, not everything was perfect. I'll admit that we may have drifted apart some in the last year or so. I used to be a regular in his Skype chats, but I wasn't as much. I'm not sure why and I'm not going to dig for a reason. Plus a few other minor wrinkles in our friendship, but we were still friends through the thick and thin. I haven't spoken with him voice-to-voice since April. Haven't seen him in person since MFF last year.
It's too reminicient to what happened with my grandfather. Last time I talked with him face-to-face, he and I were arguing about him going into a nursing home before my move to Indiana. Next time I saw him, it was at his funeral.
I know I've heard from alot of the furs that are close to him and we were a bit of a close nit group. I know that a couple are especially devistated that this happened. Today was hard to work. Even when I finally got my move to my new position at work, I still had a hard time being happy about it. All I could think was of PG and how much of a devistation and a void his loss is going to cause in the fandom. It's already caused a huge ripple among many involved.
It's going to be rough for me for a little while as I get back up to speed once this settles in. I'm afraid though that this is going to take a long while to settle in me that he's gone and we'll never see him again. Please, don't mind it if alot of us are going to be a bit spaced out or just not with it for a while... it's going to take a while for us to finish grieving on his loss.
R.I.P. Jon "Panda Guy" Albers. (1968-2012)
Yes, thats a big one. He had a way of poking people with a stick until they gave in :)