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Two More Cuts
Dec. 13th, 2024 11:59 pmUnsatisfied with taking the life of my mentor Bruce Tapper last weekend, the Scythe of Thanatos has fallen twice more in the last twenty-four hours, taking friends to sleep perpetual. The first blow was to Rachel E-C, a neighbour of joyful personality whose friendship had only been established in recent years. Although not of great health during all the time I knew her, her presence brought joy at every encounter - usually in the foyer of our shared apartment block - with a vibrant and uplifting spirit. As her partner has beautifully put it with great accuracy, "put a little bit of pink sparkle somewhere inside you [she had a particular love of said colour], and keep it there. She was unapologetically Rachel, all the time, and she was brilliant!"
The other loss, harvested but a few hours ago, was Peter Lyons. I had known Peter for over thirty years, and we had mutual interests in computing, science fiction, and gaming. A man with broad knowledge and a famous pixie-like countenance, his clever but careful mind carried a charming level of perpetual doubt as he considered propositions from all possible angles. I believe our strongest association was during my final years in Perth, many decades ago now, where we started doing a fair bit of gaming and clubbing together, sometimes seeing the light of dawn as we would discuss the finer points of ontology and cosmology - his background in physics certainly assisted this process! It must be mentioned that Bruce and Peter also thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.
It is not surprising at all that my thoughts in these circumstances have turned deeply into remembering the times I have spent with all these people. Of course, I wish that there was more time, but such wishful thinking leads to grieving, and, as we know, grief is love that has nowhere to go. Or rather, nowhere toward the person that one is thinking of. I find that I have developed an ability to give a great deal of respect to reality and see a need to redirect grief into a motivation inspired by the remembrance of our friends and loved ones who have passed. We must act in their honour, we act with their memory, in the pursuit of aesthetics and sincerity, just relations between people, and the truths of our universe. We live life to the full, waste not the precious additional time that we have been granted, and do not forget what we owe to Asclepius.
The other loss, harvested but a few hours ago, was Peter Lyons. I had known Peter for over thirty years, and we had mutual interests in computing, science fiction, and gaming. A man with broad knowledge and a famous pixie-like countenance, his clever but careful mind carried a charming level of perpetual doubt as he considered propositions from all possible angles. I believe our strongest association was during my final years in Perth, many decades ago now, where we started doing a fair bit of gaming and clubbing together, sometimes seeing the light of dawn as we would discuss the finer points of ontology and cosmology - his background in physics certainly assisted this process! It must be mentioned that Bruce and Peter also thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.
It is not surprising at all that my thoughts in these circumstances have turned deeply into remembering the times I have spent with all these people. Of course, I wish that there was more time, but such wishful thinking leads to grieving, and, as we know, grief is love that has nowhere to go. Or rather, nowhere toward the person that one is thinking of. I find that I have developed an ability to give a great deal of respect to reality and see a need to redirect grief into a motivation inspired by the remembrance of our friends and loved ones who have passed. We must act in their honour, we act with their memory, in the pursuit of aesthetics and sincerity, just relations between people, and the truths of our universe. We live life to the full, waste not the precious additional time that we have been granted, and do not forget what we owe to Asclepius.
