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A message to recently departed friends.
8 years ago
What I'm about to post may be considered a lot of reading material, but I have a lot to say on behalf of the friends I have lost along the way. Some of what I'm saying here had been said at the opening of the latest episode of Oh! Pawpets!
I have always kept my friends very close to me, and I have made many a close friend in my life. But what happens when close friends are no longer an instant message away? What happens when plans to meet at the next convention cannot happen anymore? At times in life, we tend to lose the ones we hold so close in our hearts, and it hurts just as much as losing a family member. We will be starting off by paying our respects to the recently departed, two of whom had quite a positive impact on this fandom of ours. Dealing with the tragedies of loss among friends is just as painful when it comes to family as it is when you lose a good friend. I felt a great deal of sadness for the loss of some really close friends over the years, namely JBadger, Quasi Skunk, Pandaguy, Lemonade Coyote, and Furp. When we lost them, it affected me in a way that it was as if I was losing family. Now, we have more names to add to that list. This week, we got a call that Ronin's brother Brandon had died, and it was quite a tragic time for his family. I didn't know him very well, and only met him once, but to see the reaction from his family as they mourn the loss was a difficult period through the week. Seeing their pain and suffering hurt me just as much as losing a dear friend. Later this week, I discovered that we lost Albert Temple, AKA Gene Catlow, a successful artist and writer whose web comic was admired by many. Many of the comics' followers were showing a great deal of concern, as he had suddenly not updated his web comic in weeks, leaving a lot of bewildered friends and fans alike. The word about his passing quickly spread, and a great deal of sorrow was felt. He was a tremendous person with a heart and soul to match. He was well respected among a great deal of the fandom that ever had the pleasure of meeting him. He was a strong supporter of anything he came across, and he's never shown any negativity or hostility toward anyone. He had just celebrated his 59th birthday in December, and had died this week due to natural causes. I regret not keeping in touch with him, and I regret even more that death happens so fast, that I never have the time to say goodbye. I lost many a good friend that way, never even knowing that their time had come before I had a chance to say goodbye. Death happens that sudden, that we never think about it happening to anyone we know...until it happens. Despite not being able to bid a proper farewell in their time on Earth, I feel that they at least know in spirit what we really wanted to say to them after the time does come.
I was surprised to hear about Furp's passing. He was one guy that really stood out among the crowd, and we had many a great time together at MFM. He would go out of his way to make sure anyone around him had a good time. He was quick with a joke, had a priceless sense of humor, cared a great deal for his friends, and wished nothing but the best for them all. If he saw that somebody was feeling down, he would make time to talk to you and cheer you up. He made time for his friends, even if he's never met someone before, they would definitely have one in Furp once he had met them. When I heard about his motorcycle accident, I was in quite a shock. I never thought anything like that would happen to him, but even the most skilled of riders can never react safely enough while being on the same road as a careless drunk driver.
When I heard about Pandaguy's passing, I was hurt...and it hurt badly...mainly because I didn't get a chance to tell him goodbye, yet I had just spoken with him a few weeks before he died. The last time I spoke with him, his health wasn't doing all that well and he felt pretty miserable. My heart instantly went out to him, yet I never would have even known his time was running shorter and shorter. Upon the game's release, Pandaguy got a copy of Mists of Pandoria, and being able to play the game had restored a lot of his happiness. Just a brief period of time after that, Pandaguy was gone, and I felt as if a part of me was broken, like a rope that had been cut clean in two.
Lemonade Coyote was another great friend who always did the right thing, always had the best advice, was fun-loving, very energetic, and as much as he loved his friends, he also believed in them. When I heard he had gotten into an accident while driving an ambulance and died shortly after, I didn't know what to think. I kind of refused to believe it were true. People like Lemonade Coyote, you would think, would live a very long time. Sometimes Fate seems to have other plans, even if a person is healthy as an ox and puts other people's lives before his own. He put his life on the line and worked very hard in helping to save lives, so he was more than a friend, but a hero to so many. Lemonade was the best coyote I knew, and he left behind a miryad of friends that felt the same way. To this day, I still keep his memorial con badge, just as I keep the memories of his wisdom, kind nature, and involvement inside and out of the fandom.
Another hero in the fandom that we lost along the way is JBadger. He and I went as far back as the year 2000 when I attended my first Anthrocon. Over the years, I considered JBadger among one of the greatest furry friends to have. I was nearly at a loss for words when I heard that he had developed a type of cancer. He was barely able to breathe from the fluids in his lungs, and his physical health was deteriorating fast. The moment I heard about his situation, I wanted to do something for him that I was never able to do with anyone else that I had lost. I wanted to make sure that if JBadger was well enough to appear in a Skype call, that Whitefire and I would host a stream, inviting as many of his friends as we could to join us, and I wanted to make sure he knew just how much he meant to the people around him and what his friendship meant to me. I wanted to make sure that if another good friend was going to be taken away from us, JBadger at least deserved to know just how much of an impact he had on the people that admired and appreciated him just as much as I did. On the morning of his death, JBadger died peacefully while watching "The Sound of Music". That week, just before starting our weekly Oh! Pawpets! stream, I saw the message in the IRC chat that JBadger was gone. The first thing I wanted to do was to have a moment of silence for him, and then the video footage of our last call during Whitefire's stream was played.
Another motor accident claimed the life of good friend of the fandom Quasi Skunk, whose trademark was tying a bundle of car air freshners to the tail of his fursuit. I first met Quasi during MFM 7, and would see him attend many conventions that followed. It was always a delight to see him around, even though I always saw him most of the time in his fursuit. I do admit, I didn't keep as close of contact with Quasi on a more personal level, but I did appreciate all the times I would see him at any of the conventions I attended, and from the looks of it, he would make the list of true and compassionate friends that were taken away from us much too early. The news of his passing was still quite a shock to me.
MFM 7 was also the same year that Planetfurry's TV Dave was going to attend and join with the Planetfurry group, but he died of complications due to his diabetes while working as a video consultant in Saudi Arabia. He was looking so forward to sharing the festivities with his furry friends at MFM 7, but he was taken from us before he could even experience it. Ever since then, the Planetfurry group would host a memorial meal in his honor called The Planetfurry TV Dinner.
And now we come to the most recently departed that I considered to be one of my closest friends of all, David Von Foxkin. I met him way back in 2004 when he attended his first Anthrocon, and he was taken well with the fandom, the fursuiters, and the fun, that he developed a great sense of Post Con Depression when it was time to say goodbye to it all. After a weekend of seeing him and paling around with him, I saw this sorrow in him that he didn't want it to end. At that moment, I knew exactly what he needed, and I started up a huge furpile of all the nearby fursuiters to surround him in a huge warm group hug. He never forgot that moment, and the result of that event was immortalized in the first parody song I ever put to music, called "The Pile Of Furries" which had become a big hit in the fandom. Another song off the same album, "P(ost) C(on) D(epression)" was also written for him. He was also one of the friends that was mentioned in the song "Con of the West Coast Bay" from my third album. You might say that Foxkin had a huge impact on my life and most of my inspiration came along with him in mind. Our friendship meant a great deal to me, and I went through great lengths to show it. We went on to converse often online and by phone on a regular basis, talking of the things we would plan to do when we saw each other at the next year's Anthrocon. Through the years, Foxkin has gone far and beyond the calling of a caring friend and helped me through a lot of troublesome times. He helped me get an apartment, he helped me with computer upgrades, and he helped me with the supplies to fund my first four albums. The most memorable times were when I would visit my old stomping grounds in Southern California, and anytime I planned a trip there, we always met up and went to swap meets and computer shows near his Riverside home. Foxkin found a sheer happiness when he discovered Second Life, and would spend a great deal of time on the grid. He eventually became property owner of a vast majority of islands which he rented space under his online company, Foxkin Rentals. From there, he would go on to befriend many new people, some of whom I've grown to know and love as my own family, and we all quickly became a wholesome part of a close-knit group of close friends. Foxkin was the type of guy that never picked favorites with anyone. We were all equal in his eyes; no single person was ever greater or smaller. As Foxkin's health started failing, we saw less and less of him on the Second Life grid, and in 2013, started living on Dialysis. This week, complications from a major heart attack wound up claiming his life, and I felt a great deal of sadness and emptiness inside. Foxkin lived to be 58 years old. I would like to take this time to wish the recently departed a long and peaceful rest in peace and tranquility, and I hope that we can find one another again in the next life.
I would also like to mention that on April 2, we will be congregating together on Second Life to remember David Von Foxkin in a memorial ceremony. If you can make it for the event, we're looking to get started around noon-ish Second Life Time. Anyone that is interested in attending can request a teleport from myself, DJOmniFusion Snickerdoodle, or SleightOf Hand.
I have always kept my friends very close to me, and I have made many a close friend in my life. But what happens when close friends are no longer an instant message away? What happens when plans to meet at the next convention cannot happen anymore? At times in life, we tend to lose the ones we hold so close in our hearts, and it hurts just as much as losing a family member. We will be starting off by paying our respects to the recently departed, two of whom had quite a positive impact on this fandom of ours. Dealing with the tragedies of loss among friends is just as painful when it comes to family as it is when you lose a good friend. I felt a great deal of sadness for the loss of some really close friends over the years, namely JBadger, Quasi Skunk, Pandaguy, Lemonade Coyote, and Furp. When we lost them, it affected me in a way that it was as if I was losing family. Now, we have more names to add to that list. This week, we got a call that Ronin's brother Brandon had died, and it was quite a tragic time for his family. I didn't know him very well, and only met him once, but to see the reaction from his family as they mourn the loss was a difficult period through the week. Seeing their pain and suffering hurt me just as much as losing a dear friend. Later this week, I discovered that we lost Albert Temple, AKA Gene Catlow, a successful artist and writer whose web comic was admired by many. Many of the comics' followers were showing a great deal of concern, as he had suddenly not updated his web comic in weeks, leaving a lot of bewildered friends and fans alike. The word about his passing quickly spread, and a great deal of sorrow was felt. He was a tremendous person with a heart and soul to match. He was well respected among a great deal of the fandom that ever had the pleasure of meeting him. He was a strong supporter of anything he came across, and he's never shown any negativity or hostility toward anyone. He had just celebrated his 59th birthday in December, and had died this week due to natural causes. I regret not keeping in touch with him, and I regret even more that death happens so fast, that I never have the time to say goodbye. I lost many a good friend that way, never even knowing that their time had come before I had a chance to say goodbye. Death happens that sudden, that we never think about it happening to anyone we know...until it happens. Despite not being able to bid a proper farewell in their time on Earth, I feel that they at least know in spirit what we really wanted to say to them after the time does come.
I was surprised to hear about Furp's passing. He was one guy that really stood out among the crowd, and we had many a great time together at MFM. He would go out of his way to make sure anyone around him had a good time. He was quick with a joke, had a priceless sense of humor, cared a great deal for his friends, and wished nothing but the best for them all. If he saw that somebody was feeling down, he would make time to talk to you and cheer you up. He made time for his friends, even if he's never met someone before, they would definitely have one in Furp once he had met them. When I heard about his motorcycle accident, I was in quite a shock. I never thought anything like that would happen to him, but even the most skilled of riders can never react safely enough while being on the same road as a careless drunk driver.
When I heard about Pandaguy's passing, I was hurt...and it hurt badly...mainly because I didn't get a chance to tell him goodbye, yet I had just spoken with him a few weeks before he died. The last time I spoke with him, his health wasn't doing all that well and he felt pretty miserable. My heart instantly went out to him, yet I never would have even known his time was running shorter and shorter. Upon the game's release, Pandaguy got a copy of Mists of Pandoria, and being able to play the game had restored a lot of his happiness. Just a brief period of time after that, Pandaguy was gone, and I felt as if a part of me was broken, like a rope that had been cut clean in two.
Lemonade Coyote was another great friend who always did the right thing, always had the best advice, was fun-loving, very energetic, and as much as he loved his friends, he also believed in them. When I heard he had gotten into an accident while driving an ambulance and died shortly after, I didn't know what to think. I kind of refused to believe it were true. People like Lemonade Coyote, you would think, would live a very long time. Sometimes Fate seems to have other plans, even if a person is healthy as an ox and puts other people's lives before his own. He put his life on the line and worked very hard in helping to save lives, so he was more than a friend, but a hero to so many. Lemonade was the best coyote I knew, and he left behind a miryad of friends that felt the same way. To this day, I still keep his memorial con badge, just as I keep the memories of his wisdom, kind nature, and involvement inside and out of the fandom.
Another hero in the fandom that we lost along the way is JBadger. He and I went as far back as the year 2000 when I attended my first Anthrocon. Over the years, I considered JBadger among one of the greatest furry friends to have. I was nearly at a loss for words when I heard that he had developed a type of cancer. He was barely able to breathe from the fluids in his lungs, and his physical health was deteriorating fast. The moment I heard about his situation, I wanted to do something for him that I was never able to do with anyone else that I had lost. I wanted to make sure that if JBadger was well enough to appear in a Skype call, that Whitefire and I would host a stream, inviting as many of his friends as we could to join us, and I wanted to make sure he knew just how much he meant to the people around him and what his friendship meant to me. I wanted to make sure that if another good friend was going to be taken away from us, JBadger at least deserved to know just how much of an impact he had on the people that admired and appreciated him just as much as I did. On the morning of his death, JBadger died peacefully while watching "The Sound of Music". That week, just before starting our weekly Oh! Pawpets! stream, I saw the message in the IRC chat that JBadger was gone. The first thing I wanted to do was to have a moment of silence for him, and then the video footage of our last call during Whitefire's stream was played.
Another motor accident claimed the life of good friend of the fandom Quasi Skunk, whose trademark was tying a bundle of car air freshners to the tail of his fursuit. I first met Quasi during MFM 7, and would see him attend many conventions that followed. It was always a delight to see him around, even though I always saw him most of the time in his fursuit. I do admit, I didn't keep as close of contact with Quasi on a more personal level, but I did appreciate all the times I would see him at any of the conventions I attended, and from the looks of it, he would make the list of true and compassionate friends that were taken away from us much too early. The news of his passing was still quite a shock to me.
MFM 7 was also the same year that Planetfurry's TV Dave was going to attend and join with the Planetfurry group, but he died of complications due to his diabetes while working as a video consultant in Saudi Arabia. He was looking so forward to sharing the festivities with his furry friends at MFM 7, but he was taken from us before he could even experience it. Ever since then, the Planetfurry group would host a memorial meal in his honor called The Planetfurry TV Dinner.
And now we come to the most recently departed that I considered to be one of my closest friends of all, David Von Foxkin. I met him way back in 2004 when he attended his first Anthrocon, and he was taken well with the fandom, the fursuiters, and the fun, that he developed a great sense of Post Con Depression when it was time to say goodbye to it all. After a weekend of seeing him and paling around with him, I saw this sorrow in him that he didn't want it to end. At that moment, I knew exactly what he needed, and I started up a huge furpile of all the nearby fursuiters to surround him in a huge warm group hug. He never forgot that moment, and the result of that event was immortalized in the first parody song I ever put to music, called "The Pile Of Furries" which had become a big hit in the fandom. Another song off the same album, "P(ost) C(on) D(epression)" was also written for him. He was also one of the friends that was mentioned in the song "Con of the West Coast Bay" from my third album. You might say that Foxkin had a huge impact on my life and most of my inspiration came along with him in mind. Our friendship meant a great deal to me, and I went through great lengths to show it. We went on to converse often online and by phone on a regular basis, talking of the things we would plan to do when we saw each other at the next year's Anthrocon. Through the years, Foxkin has gone far and beyond the calling of a caring friend and helped me through a lot of troublesome times. He helped me get an apartment, he helped me with computer upgrades, and he helped me with the supplies to fund my first four albums. The most memorable times were when I would visit my old stomping grounds in Southern California, and anytime I planned a trip there, we always met up and went to swap meets and computer shows near his Riverside home. Foxkin found a sheer happiness when he discovered Second Life, and would spend a great deal of time on the grid. He eventually became property owner of a vast majority of islands which he rented space under his online company, Foxkin Rentals. From there, he would go on to befriend many new people, some of whom I've grown to know and love as my own family, and we all quickly became a wholesome part of a close-knit group of close friends. Foxkin was the type of guy that never picked favorites with anyone. We were all equal in his eyes; no single person was ever greater or smaller. As Foxkin's health started failing, we saw less and less of him on the Second Life grid, and in 2013, started living on Dialysis. This week, complications from a major heart attack wound up claiming his life, and I felt a great deal of sadness and emptiness inside. Foxkin lived to be 58 years old. I would like to take this time to wish the recently departed a long and peaceful rest in peace and tranquility, and I hope that we can find one another again in the next life.
I would also like to mention that on April 2, we will be congregating together on Second Life to remember David Von Foxkin in a memorial ceremony. If you can make it for the event, we're looking to get started around noon-ish Second Life Time. Anyone that is interested in attending can request a teleport from myself, DJOmniFusion Snickerdoodle, or SleightOf Hand.
_/|\_