We ended up as friends, though, through mutual blog friends. From years ago, when I first began blogging. And that's how I got to know the other facets of JFuzz.
He was a military veteran who now lived a "simple" life. He was a deep thinker, and wore no masks, no pretension. He was so truly genuine.
On the surface, we shared interests in writing, painting, and bicycle commuting. But our friendship was deeper than that. He was just one of those people who is easy to know, like I'd known him for years and years.
His health problems came upon him about a year and a half ago or so. Most of his time was spent at VA hospitals, but he was always so light-hearted about it. He'd talk about the other patients there. He'd pick some flowers and put them in a coffee can to make his room more cheerful. He'd joke about the elegant 5-course meals in his feeding tube.
When someone gave him a paint-by-numbers kit, he fully embraced acrylic painting. Despite his meager supplies, he began cranking out original paintings - still lifes of objects in his room, landscapes of the view out of his window, portraits of his friends, self-portraits.
Much of my own acrylic paintings of this past year were inspired by JFuzz's vigor. I would look forward to seeing his latest projects, and I was always interested in his honest opinions of mine.
I learned that JFuzz died a few days ago. Just as we were introduced through mutual friends, I learned the news through the same mutual friends.
I had to read the news for several minutes to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding something. Was it really JFuzz that was gone? I knew he was ill. I knew his time here was limited, but I was still surprised and saddened. And I was a bit surprised at how saddened I was.
I hope JFuzz knew how much his friendship meant to me. I'm happy that his pain is over now. I'm sad for me and the others that knew him.
I never met him in "real life". Well... maybe I did.
Rest In Peace.
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| JFuzz in his bright orange safety bicycle commuting shirt |
8 comments:
Aww I'm really sorry. How sad. At least he's out of pain now. I'm kinda in the middle of writing a sad post myself. :(
A blogger's life IS important to us, since we base so much of our contact on people we bond with through our blogs and when one is gone, there's a deep hole left in our daily activity.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend. We bloggers talk about not really knowing each other in "real life" but just because we haven't met doesn't diminish the depth of our friendships. I've come to realize this myself over the past couple of years and would be deeply saddened to lose any of my blog friends, whether we've met in person or not. We connect because we find things in common and the bonds of our friendship grow stronger over time, just like our "real life" friends.
I didn't know him and it sounds like he was a good man, he will be missed by many I know, losing a friend whether someone we know through blogging of face to face leaves a hole in our lives, I hate that you lost this friend.
RIP
I'm very sorry you lost your friend -- but happy you got to know him as you did. He sounds like the kinda guy from whom we can all learn something.
Here's to JFuzz....
It's true. We connect with our blog friends because of our commonalities, and as we get to know them, they become real friends. I can't imagine losing any of my blog friends. And I'm saddened that you have lost one. Sounds like he was a great guy. Thanks for sharing his story.
It is amazing how attached we can become to internet friends - in fact I have internet friends that I think of as better friends than many of my "real" friends.
I did not know JFuzz - probably my loss!
You're a testimony to the value of JFuzz's life. Thank you for reflecting on his life and your relationship with him. Blessings to all who are missing him.
(I've been shocked twice by the deaths of blog friends.)
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