In memory of   spottedsqueak

One year ago I lost a good friend. They say that time heals all wounds, but it's going to take a lot of time for the wound of no longer having him in my life to heal. Forest was, for lack of a better term, a beacon of hope. Just watching him be the person that he was: kind, silly, affectionate, generous, brought joy to my life. He was the first person I can honestly say that I could not find any faults with.

Well, except maybe he was too generous.

He was always putting himself and his needs below that of his friends. To the point where, in my opinion, he pushed himself too much. I remember having to tell him to get to bed so many times, and granted, this was AFTER I woke up around four or five in the morning (for him it would have been around one or two in the morning).

But that's really the only bad thing I can say about him: he gave too much of himself to others.

It has not been easy surviving the insanity of 2025 without him around. It took me several, several months to be able to go through my day without missing him and crying at least once. And these past couple of weeks leading up to the one year anniversary of his death haven't been easy for me.

I still miss him so much. He was the Wuffles. He was the kindest, goofiest fuzz butt I've ever known, and he should still be alive and brightening up our dreary lives with his infectious hope.

But he isn't. And I have to accept that.

I will never be as good of a person as he was, but I try to be as good as I can be. Unfortunately, I'm cynical and antisocial, suffering from anxiety and depression, coupled with being autistic and ADHD. And as much as I hate people… I still love humanity.

I don't ever want to forget him. I hope I never do, for as long as I live.

And while I'll never be the beacon of hope that he was, I hope that I've been an inspiration for others.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely, Zerky DeVore