A friend passed away the other day. He was not the first, nor will he be the last. He is one whom I've never met in the flesh; he is one, now, who I shall only ever know by the words he shared through various fora, and through the words and memories of others who had known him in both real & virtual space.
Ave, Atque, Vale1..."Hail and Farewell" my friend.
I was touched by the words of another friend, linked above, and the taking of the words for the title from Catullus was particularly appropriate.
Rex, a.k.a. Rick, was and remains a respected, articulate and learned soul.
Would that our world held more like him; we'll do well to simply to have others aspire to be like the man I came to know, albeit only in electronic form. Those who knew him as I did, and who were able to extend their friendship beyond the electronic bits and bytes of the cyber realm, report that he was, in many ways, much like his online persona, only more so. More, because the physical being that contained his soul was far more than words in a forum.
Hail and farewell, my friend.
Rest in peace, with your warmth, words and wisdom living on within all those you've touched.
We'll do our best to keep your memory alive, and to share our lives with you through them.
Goodbye.
- GreyHawk
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1 The link is not be accessible to all - it's limited in permissions, as its scribe confirmed just this morning. It's not integral to this piece unless you knew Rex - it's a shout out and a nod to the title.