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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sialia" data-source="post: 1607331" data-attributes="member: 1025">Angelsboi will never be forgotten here, because even if we don't always know how we got here,we know where we are.When I joined ENWorld, I hid behind my alias, as most of us did. I didn't want to expose any of my "real" life to the strangers here, and I did want any of my "real" life to be able to find out about my "private" life by Googling info about me here. And then Angelsboi appeared, and he just was himself. He was so sharing, that everyone who chatted with him started sharing stuff too. It was as if he tested the waters for us. And we found out that these waters are both deep and warm. And it didn't matter about whether you posted under an alias or used your real name--there was a lot of stuff you could say about who you were that had nothing to do with what you did in real life or called yourself.  And, as so many have mentioned, because Angelsboi made himself vulnerable to a whole crowd of strangers, and he trusted us to be decent people, we also found out that the comunity here is good at being supportive, intelligent, questioning, respectful, creative, fun. Like Angelsboi himself.  A lot of us started sharing more of our "real" selves after that. I still don't like to use my other names here, but now it's because I've shared more of who I really "am" here than I can in the office. And when ENWorld was in trouble last year, and we rallied as a community, it was because we really see this forum as a community, and not just as a free online resource. There's lots of places I use online, but very few where I live. Anyway, thanks to Angelsboi and his memory, because I think that's a gift he gave to all of us. The strength to be ourselves and to trust each other to be ok with that, whatever we are, whoever we are. He was a courageous leader, and we're here because he led us up through a particularly tricky part of the path, and taught us things we needed to know about ourselves in order to survive.I wish he were still here with us. I never told him any of that in person, and I should have.</blockquote>

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