Angelsboi passed away 16 Jun 04 (was: Angelsboi Health Update)

[mikedidthis]

Discovering and following one of Angelsboi's threads sometime back is what turned me from an occasional lurker into an active, daily lurker. His posts put a human face on this board for me; made me want to get to know more about him and others on ENworld.

God be with you, Angelsboi. You are missed here.

 

[Elric]

This is so sad. We must play the strings we have left.

 

[Mouseferatu]

My own greatest memory of Angelsboi isn't a specific event. It was a general sense of him, back when I was new to the forums here.

It was, quite simply, this: He was so open about who he was. In an online environment, where so many of the people you interact with are strangers, it must be so hard to be up-front and honest. And yet here was this person who was gay--and open about it, and happy about it--in a forum not specifically devoted to that topic.

And it didn't matter to anyone.

I'm not sure why that's so important to me, except that it, more than anything else, proved to me what a great community this was. The fact that he was comfortable here proved that this was not a place of hatreds or judgments or misperceptions.

Angelsboi, by himself, helped shape my perception of EN World as a community, and as a good place to be. I really didn't know him very well, but I think maybe he'd have liked that.

 

[MulhorandSage]

Damn.

Far, far too short a season. I'lll say a prayer for you, Angelsboi. My condolences to your loved ones.

 

[Winterthorn]

I'm deeply saddened. I haven't been lurking around much of late. I just thought to look up what was new at ENWorld, and lo, the first thing that caught my eye was this news... I always thought that he would, as many have, be living with HIV for many many years to come... I never expected Ryan to leave this mortal world so quickly!

Angelsboi, my soul weeps for thee. I'm sorry I never interacted with you as much as I think now I should have... But I cannot weep forever, for I know we are all made of flesh here, and I hope I, nay all of us, will meet you on the otherside when our time arrives...

My sincere condolances to Ryan's family and friends. Thank-you Ryan, for spending time with us here during your short time on earth. Rest in Peace kid.

**sniff**

-W.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

I saw this thread first a few hours ago. I didn't post then, as I couldn't find the words.
Now when I was ready to post I find that he has already passed away.

As a gay man, I found great strength in Ryan's posting here. I wouldn't call myself closeted (out to friends, family, but not at work), but he seemed so comfortable with himself he made me proud.

When he first talked about his illness here I didn't think it was good. I worked as a volunteer with an AIDS organisation for a number of years, and although the medicines available now are doing wonderful things, he was hit so hard by the virus I couldn't see they would help him enough.

He drifted away from EnWorld a lot after that, with the occasional posting about his health. But every couple of months I looked up his LiveJournal just to find out how he was. I found myself thinking of him last weekend, and planned to look him up this week.

Ryan is unlikely to have had any idea of who I am, but I will miss him.

Duncan

 

[Maldur]

This is a sad day

Rest in Peace, kid.

 

[kolvar]

It is very strange how the death of a person you only read some white pixels on the sceen from, can touch you. I had not much to do with AB, but he was simply there, he belonged to this board as someone does, who was here, is here and will be here in the far future.
If there is a better place, he has gone to, I hope, he can feel, how much he will be missed and how much he ment to everyone, even those, who only new him by his alias.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[thalmin]

Peace, Ryan. Wherever you are has now become a much better place.

 

[talinthas]

Bhagavan apka atma ne shanti aapo.
God grant your soul peace.