Some of you may have been wondering why I went offline/unavailable for a few days recently, and some of you may not even have noticed, but either way I want to share the reason now.
I was recently devastated to hear of the sudden death of an online friend who although I never met in person I greatly admired and loved all the same. It was then that I realized just how precious life can be, how many of my online friends I may never get to meet in person but love so very much for all that we have shared since I met you and that I may never get to know the real life friend simply because of a quirk of fate called death.
He was known only to me as
DeVi8i0n, from an online forum I spent many an hour, many a year in fact, on as a moderator, media and music lover, but when I was told of his passing by another mutual friend I didn't quite know how to react at first. In fact, I could not even look at the notice until today.
Once the initial "holy f*ck" feeling wore off I started thinking about the conversations I'd had with this online friend and how so many times he had brought me back from one of my many trips down depression lane with his quick wit and humor and just the way he treated me. I remembered how many on the forum loved DeVi8i0n in so many ways and for so many different reasons and all that he had brought into the life of us all there. Then I started to cry.
I cried because I let so much time go by since I last spoke to him. I cried because the last words I wanted to say to him were not said. I cried because we all lost someone so great in our life so quickly and unexpectedly and I cried because I know there were so many times that I should have said thank you to him and I didn't.
I just didn't think of it at the time and I really should have let him know how much he meant to me, to so many of us on the
Happydi**s forum. Even when I had met up with him again last year on another forum I didn't really take the time to connect with him again as I was "just too busy" in my own life.
I feel it was not fair of life to take someone so incredibly awesome from this world without a chance for so many who loved him to say goodbye.
Damn it, why! However many times I ask the question I never get an answer.
All I can do now is be glad for him that it was sudden, that he did not suffer, and to wish those closest to him my condolences on thier terrible loss. If I, as only an online friend feel that I have lost someone so truly precious to me, then I can only imagine how those closest to him in life must feel. I am so very sorry.
The one other thing I can do right now though is to say thank you. Thank you to
DeVi8i0n wherever you may be my friend.
And thank you to all the other guys and gals of the
Happyd**s forum that I shared so many awesome years with. I do not remember all the nicks for all of you but that does not mean I have forgotten a single one of you!
Thank you to
Happydownloader, one of my best friends still to this day for all you have done for me, all you have brought to my life both online and in person. I will never regret the day I agreed to meet you and we crossed that line of virtual friend to real life friend. You mean alot to me. Thank you for always being there.
Thank you to all my
Facebook friends,(past, present and future), the authors I meet, the people I have the pleasure to speak with, all of you have had some impact on my life.
To those who I no longer speak to because their friendship was not a good one to continue with but yet they still helped me shape my life and bring me to where I am now.
I want to make sure you all know now how much it means to me to have had the opportunity to know you. It could be tomorrow or the next day or even the day after that it could happen. Anyone of us could be the next victim of death.
Thank you, to all my friends, in real life or online, for sharing yourselves with me.
"REASON, SEASON, OR LIFETIME FRIENDS?" "People always come into your life for a reason,
a season, or a lifetime.
When you figure out which it is,
you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need
you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
or to provide you with guidance and support...
to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part
or at an inconvenient time,
This person will say or do something
to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met,
our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON,
it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They may bring you an experience of peace
or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it!
It is real!
But, only for a SEASON.
And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,
the season eventually ends.
LIFETIME relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons;
Those things you must build upon
in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson,
love the person/people anyway,
and put what you have learned
to use in all other relationships
and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind,
but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being a part of my life... "
Original Post from The Mountain PressDavid L. Kriss of Gatlinburg, passed away on Thursday, March 3, 2011, at Ft. Sanders Regional Hospital in Knoxville from sudden heart failure.
Born June 11, 1970, in Springfield, MO; raised in Calvert County, MD; summered in Portage, PA; and, settled in Gatlinburg, TN.
He is survived by his mother, Carol Ann Paterick of Bowie, MD; father Paul Edward Kriss of Bybee, TN; brother, Joseph Paul Kriss of Chattanooga, TN; grandmother Ruth Richardson of Portage, PA; uncle Carl Richardson of York, PA; aunt Rosemarie Noel in Florida; his beloved life and soul mate Jennifer Lacy and children Jared McAlister, Elijah Lacy, and Chase Jones of Gatlinburg; cousins Brian Kriss, Cindy Parks, Sherry Dillane, Amy Kriss, Robert Noel, Theresa Davis, Danielle and Matthew Noel, and Kelsy Richardson; and many special world-wide friends.
Dave was admired for his outgoing personality, sense of loyalty, and his empathy and compassion toward all. Many knew him only by ~DeVi8i0n and ~DV8, his monikers. Dave’s expanded family included everyone he ever met in life. His kind ways, gentle spirit, generous and forgiving heart were well known and will be missed. He devoted time to help homeless individuals in Baltimore, MD, Columbia, SC, and Gatlinburg, TN. His sentiments were with the Portage Area Historical Society and St. Joseph’s Parish in Portage, PA. He used money he earned, received on birthdays and at Christmas to buy socks, gloves, and blankets to then distribute to the homeless and poor, many of whom he knew by name and knew their life stories. He developed an Internet presence for the Baltimore homeless and was highly praised in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper for his work. He had little in the way of earthly possessions, yet would give them all to someone in need.
Dave was considered to be an untiring comrade to people who hurt; a source of great knowledge and inspiration to his online community friends; had a highly developed sense of doing what was right by his fellow man; would give you the shirt off his back in an instant; and had an infectious sense of humor. His compassion knew no bounds; he had a strong conviction of the goodness in human nature. Once befriended, Dave never forgot a soul of his heart.
Cremation arrangements are being handled by Rose Mortuary in Knoxville. The family requests donations made in Dave’s memory go to the Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries, PO Box 5968, Sevierville, TN, 37864; the Gatlinburg First United Methodist Church, 742 Parkway / US-441, Gatlinburg, TN 37738; or the Portage Area Historical Society, P.O. Box 45, Portage, PA 15946.
Read more: The Mountain Press - David L Kriss
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