Sudden Loss

It's amazing how a person that we never enjoyed the pleasure of meeting in real life can so affect us by their death. This time I don't mean a celebrity, although once in a while I do feel the loss (Christopher Reeve, Pat Morita).

This morning I found a forwarded email message sent by an RPG player on another board, informing me that a player on one my games had passed away. I read and reread the message, certain that I had misread the words. And as I came to understand them, I began to cry.

Jeanne was a wonderful, kind spirit. She always wanted to know how to do better, how to really interact in the game. She was funny off-list, and sweet in her messages. I knew that she had health problems, but never dreamed they were this severe. It will be difficult to imagine the game without her, and that sorrow is only a fraction of the loss that her family must be feeling now.

I have made some good friends over the years that I have enjoyed online narrative-based RPG's. A few I have had the good fortune to meet in person. I hope to make it to Scotland one day to meet another. In the meantime, this strange little past time that we all enjoy so much will have to be enough.

Jeanne, sweetie, you are missed.