When someone dies

Isn't it curious how we can affect people's lives through this abstract, virtual world even without being physically near them? Even if it's someone we didn't know well, but whose impact on SL rippled through the experiences of others we get constant reminders that human connections can transcend most any limitation.

This morning, I learned from a friend that a club owner I knew - someone I only knew in passing - had died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Even though I didn't know them very well, I feel saddened today to know that a member of our community is no longer with us and their partner has left SL to cope with the grief.

It makes me sit back for a moment and take stock. One, I cherish the friends I've made here even more than ever. Two, life may be fleeting but SL is even more so. I'm going to make a special effort to tell my SL friends how much they mean to me today.

Ive lost online friends too Cindy, so I know how you feel.

Wow that's horrible, lifes so short it is sad. My condolences.

Thanks, but I'm not the one who needs the condolences. She had a good circle of friends in SL and I hope they find the support and love they need right now. I feel more like an outsider, touched in passing, but still saddened by the news.

I've lost people i knew over the net too. I feel for you and anyone whoes in this situation. I lost a friend back in the day when i was in Furcadia. I was a bartender at a club that was in the GLBT catagory. A fellow helper had to go in for sergery and didn't make it. We held a funeral in the dream the club was stationed in.

The part that saddens me most are those who have no hearts and choose to be imature. Like that well known World of Warcraft situation (most already know of it) where a player died IRL, and their guild/friends made a ingame funeral for them, only to be raided and killed by other players. That was idiotic. It pains me to know people like that exist, and it makes me wander how many will be at THEIR funerals...

I know this type of thing could and would happen in SecondLife too. Theres enough griefers and idiots here to do it. Hopefully most of us are mature enough to know what is good and not good to do.

For me, my SL friends are my RL friends too. It is sad when something happens to anyone, because even though it is virtual, there are people that control the person. In my mind, I don't see the avatar, I see the actual person. Some call me weird, that could be why.

Not weird at all. Infact i wish more people were like that. Then we wouldnt have so many 'anti this' and 'anti that' people.

i kinda wish there were ratings still, 'cuz i'd rate this five stars. (not to stroke your sadness... though i share your, and others grief...)

i've seen three deaths communicated thru sl... and two i don't think i'd ever met. i guess, combined with the passing of both of my grandmothers in the past six months, plus a close, young friend who really should've had more time, a few years ago...

gad, i don't want to make this political. but for those who seem to thrive on the idea that 'all dead foreigners were enemies'... i think -that- is the ultimate 'subversity' of this strange realm we feel blessed to experience and play within.

my condolences to those closest, and to all who need it. blessings and peace.

I shared a few good times and chats w/ a certain AV in SL. He even showed me around his castle. We played a few games together in world. I didn't KNOW him super well but he was on my friends list.

I then later found out he had passed away IRL. I felt bad and had a chance to speak w/ his partner.

It may seem silly but the one way I make sure I keep him in mind is I have decided to NOT delete his name from my friends list. So whenever I scroll through or reduce my friends list I see his name and take a moment to miss him.

very sad indeed, when someone passes regardless of how you knew them. they may have been "only" an online friend but the pain you feel for the loss is very real and hurts just as much as the loss of any real life friend.

As nimrod Yaffle said my close SL friends are real life friends also. I have a fairly short list of close SL friends but they mean more to me then most people i know in real life and if any thing bad happen to them in real life I would be devastated to say the least.

There is a sad fact about people online many are online because they are in fact Ill in real life and cant get out and all to often they pass suddenly. we see the vibrant Sl avatar full of life and vigor yet the real life counterpart can some times be a very sick person using SL to get away from there Illness even if it is only for the short amount of time that they have left.

My condolences to any one who has lost an online friend.

Although I do not know those affected, I feel your loss nonetheless.

May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

Go softly, my friend, knowing that those left behind are graced still with the song of your life.

Peace in your days,
Veng

I've always been the type that relates more to people online than in RL, so I have quite a few online friends whom I've never met in person that I would seriously do anything for. The same goes for friends in SL, so I definitely understand the feeling.

My condolences to your friends.

A friend of mine also just recently passed...his in-world girlfriend was notified of his death by his RL fiancee, who had logged in on his account.

It wasn't easy on any of us who knew him, but we're coping as best we can. We even held a memorial service for him on Saturday, at which I delivered the opening remarks and then helped moderate the proceedings. Over L$10,000 has been donated in his name, to benefit Relay for Life and The Shelter (one of his favorite places in SL).

And one good thing has has come of it--his RL fiancee has created an avatar of her own and is starting out in SL now, with the help and support of all those of us that knew him. She's seeing that caring for loved ones is the same, whether in RL or SL.

Thats so sad...and I know that there are some people I've met in SL already that I would have a hard time losing.
Memorials are a good way to say goodbye and try to put some closure to a sensless loss, even though the healing takes much longer.
My condolences.

I don't -know- if anyone I know or have met has died, but there have been two people to mysteriously disappear. One I was rather good friends with, and the other I rent from. The first may have just stopped playing, but the second... she has a business in SL, has to pay for her land, etc. You don't just stop playing for that. And if you run into technical difficulties, chances are you'd find some other computer to get on and handle business or give warnings. There's too much invested.

I do hope she's ok.

I lost a good friend back in Star Wars Galaxies. She was an entertainer and we used to play and hang out with other people who have now moved onto Second Life.

One day, her partner logged onto the forum we posted on to announce that she had died of cancer. I don't think she was much older than 20.

It really hit us. Sure, online relationships can be very superficial. But you sometimes find true great friends, just like in real life. And you don't care less for them because you "only" know them online.

She lives on in the Cantina Crawl videos that Javier made and in our hearts. We still miss her.

Wendel