eftychia: Spaceship superimposed on a whirling vortex (departure)
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posted by [personal profile] eftychia at 08:08am on 2008-01-28

Between one thing and another, I didn't get around to reading most of my friendslist yesterday. I finally got to it this morning, expecting yesterday to have been a light day, as Sundays often are here.

Instead, I got quite a jolt. The shocking news, repeated by several friends, that [info] filkergem has died. Suddenly, out of the blue. In a house fire.

As at least one other person observed, it doesn't seem real -- I'm still processing this news, still adjusting my mental map of the world to fit this fact. At the same time, it seems all too horribly real. All the more so as I try -- and recoil and fail -- to imagine what this is like for [info] kyttn and [info] lovensong87.

I haven't the words.

 

 

 

And then I went to check whether my quote of the day had posted correctly, and remembered what I'd queued up for today in memory of the Challenger disaster, and suddenly I don't know whether that quote is tackily jarring for everyone else who knew [info] filkergem, because it mentions death by fire, or a fitting (if accidental) honour because it's a song about defiance in the face of acknowledgement of death -- a call to carry bravely on -- and a filk song, on a day we mourn a member of the filk community. I really don't know which way to call it. I'm still trying to accept that this has happened, and that I'm really awake.

There are 14 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 
posted by [identity profile] smallship1.livejournal.com at 01:27pm on 2008-01-28
It seemed to me to be fitting, though I didn't know him well and am hardly qualified to comment.

And trust me, you're awake. True reality is the one that hurts.
 
posted by [identity profile] wouldyoueva.livejournal.com at 01:28pm on 2008-01-28
I can tell you, with some degree of certainty, that the second thought Maya will have (or had) this morning will crush the first happy thought of the day.

I don't even know her, and yet my heart has been aching for her since I got the news.

I just found the keys to our safe, where Jack stored his really valuable rare books. I'll probably pull something from that group to donate to whatever fannish auction is being planned to help the family out.
 
posted by [identity profile] suecochran.livejournal.com at 01:55pm on 2008-01-28
I knew Greg fairly well, and I think he'd regard it as a fitting honour. I'm really sad about his death as well. As usual, when someone in my bio or found family dies, I just keep thinking about how odd and sad it is that I will never see him, talk to him, hug him again. :(
 
posted by [identity profile] dglenn.livejournal.com at 09:11pm on 2008-01-28
Thanks for the reassurance; I really wasn't sure whether my own impressions could be generalized.

I wasn't as close to Greg as some of my friends were, but enough so to, like you, keep thinking how sad and how odd it is that old conversations will never be resumed, that we won't see him at the next convention, that his voice has been stilled.

Even though I know rationally that we are all mortal, and that tragedy can take us before our times, on an emotional level it just seems to Not Make Sense (that seems to need exclamation points) that he could be there one day and gone forever the next. It's a shock.
 
posted by [identity profile] badgerthorazine.livejournal.com at 02:22pm on 2008-01-28
The QotD did tear me apart a bit, but was so shining, and one of my favourite Urban Tapestry songs...Dissolved in tears and smiled at the same time. I like to think he'd expect that of me anyway given my habit of dissolving in laughter at cons...

You need me, I's here. Call, write, whatever ya need, hon.
 
posted by [identity profile] filkerdave.livejournal.com at 02:27pm on 2008-01-28
Honestly? I thought that it was for Greg and I thought that it was fitting.
ckd: small blue foam shark (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ckd at 02:34pm on 2008-01-28
As did I; my thoughts exactly match yours. It was most fitting, and something that he probably would have thought "too much" even as the rest of us know it could never be enough.

Unintentional and yet exactly the right thing, [livejournal.com profile] dglenn.
 
posted by [identity profile] dglenn.livejournal.com at 09:14pm on 2008-01-28
Good. Then it did double duty, however accidental. (And I probably would not have done as well if I had heard the news early enough to pick a quote specifically for him.) Thanks for the feedback. I was worried.
 
posted by [identity profile] otherdeb.livejournal.com at 09:15pm on 2008-01-28
As did I. Thank you, Glenn, for (accidentally or otherwise) having the right words at the right time.
 
posted by [identity profile] tikvah.livejournal.com at 07:57pm on 2008-01-29
I also thought that it was for Greg.
 
posted by [identity profile] wilhelmina-d.livejournal.com at 03:24pm on 2008-01-28
My condolences.
 
posted by [identity profile] dglenn.livejournal.com at 09:15pm on 2008-01-28
Thank you.
 
posted by [identity profile] silmaril.livejournal.com at 03:31pm on 2008-01-28
I do not think I knew him---not under that name, anyway---but I am sorry for everyone's loss.
 
posted by [identity profile] anthro-geek.livejournal.com at 06:38am on 2008-01-29
I am sorry to hear about the death of your friend and the loss to fandom. Prayers for all in need...

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