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helwenJust finished catching up on reading posts here - naturally I'm several days late on most of them... awkward enough I stopped posting comments.
We lost someone in the SCA, East Kingdom last week (COVID), Liam St. Liam/Bill. I posted briefly on FB but not here. Liam knew and was known by so many people, not just in the Northeast but some other parts of the country as well. And he was responsible for a lot of people meeting each other -- he delighted in helping new folks, helped when needed, was funny, kind, and generous. When he was younger he used to do a polar bear challenge as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics.
Outside the SCA he was a writer, in particular he wrote about sports (but not exclusively). He wrote not just about the games themselves but also about the connections between sports and communities. I don't care for most sports that much and certainly don't care to read about most of them. I read some of his articles though -- he actually made it interesting.
We weren't super close, especially after he moved further away geographically and then L and I stopped going to Pennsic and other events we both tended to go to, and then he had his first stroke, so his traveling days diminished and then ceased. But I looked forward to his posts on FB, his valiant efforts to come back from the stroke, to being cheered up or cheering him up.
Terrible as it is reading about all the COVID-related deaths, illness, partial recoveries etc., sad as it is sending condolences out to friends, it is still different when it's someone you personally know. Because now you have a quantifiable loss in your life. You can see and feel all the ways in which that loss has taken some of the supports out from under you. Life is out-of-kilter already from all the life changes since the pandemic started, the resilience is thin or non-existent, and then comes a palpable hit.
Humans only scale so well, in their ability to understand the effects of large scale events, and try as they might the truth is that until they "see" it close enough, the full impact often doesn't sink in. And even if you were preparing yourself, even if you have that chance -- it doesn't matter. The reality of loss is stronger than any preparation.
Rest in peace, Liam/Bill. Hail the Traveler!
And everyone else, be kind to yourself. It's hard to live in these times, and finding a way forward that works is going to take a while.
We lost someone in the SCA, East Kingdom last week (COVID), Liam St. Liam/Bill. I posted briefly on FB but not here. Liam knew and was known by so many people, not just in the Northeast but some other parts of the country as well. And he was responsible for a lot of people meeting each other -- he delighted in helping new folks, helped when needed, was funny, kind, and generous. When he was younger he used to do a polar bear challenge as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics.
Outside the SCA he was a writer, in particular he wrote about sports (but not exclusively). He wrote not just about the games themselves but also about the connections between sports and communities. I don't care for most sports that much and certainly don't care to read about most of them. I read some of his articles though -- he actually made it interesting.
We weren't super close, especially after he moved further away geographically and then L and I stopped going to Pennsic and other events we both tended to go to, and then he had his first stroke, so his traveling days diminished and then ceased. But I looked forward to his posts on FB, his valiant efforts to come back from the stroke, to being cheered up or cheering him up.
Terrible as it is reading about all the COVID-related deaths, illness, partial recoveries etc., sad as it is sending condolences out to friends, it is still different when it's someone you personally know. Because now you have a quantifiable loss in your life. You can see and feel all the ways in which that loss has taken some of the supports out from under you. Life is out-of-kilter already from all the life changes since the pandemic started, the resilience is thin or non-existent, and then comes a palpable hit.
Humans only scale so well, in their ability to understand the effects of large scale events, and try as they might the truth is that until they "see" it close enough, the full impact often doesn't sink in. And even if you were preparing yourself, even if you have that chance -- it doesn't matter. The reality of loss is stronger than any preparation.
Rest in peace, Liam/Bill. Hail the Traveler!
And everyone else, be kind to yourself. It's hard to live in these times, and finding a way forward that works is going to take a while.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-02 05:57 pm (UTC)