According to my profile, I've been a part of Everything2 for 1.9 years. I haven't written much and I certainly can read much more than I have so far. In fact, I haven't checked in as much as I would like to. I've read and kinda participated in some forums and forum like websites before. In at least one of them, I've been more active than I am here though generally, I'm not that active in writing in any website. As anyone would expect, those other forums's communities were much smaller than everything2's which made it easier to know some of the other users and I could see that when reading others' posts. I've also got to know some of those users myself. I haven't met any everything2 user, but for some reason I can't quite figure out, this place felt different than any other from day one. It felt warm and as huge as it is, it felt like everyone were connected somehow whether they knew each other outside the cyber space or not. It felt like a family, a family that accepts who you are and guides you when you need it, a family that can be nice to you when needed and harsh when it's for your own good too. That's why this is the only place that I actually keep coming back to while I've long abandoned the other sites.
I didn't know Grundoon (though I may have come across some of her writeups before) just like I haven't known some of the other users that I've read about their passing away before. I've read what others had to say about them and watched the video interview but I still can't and don't have the right to say that I knew her. I can't and don't have the right to say that I will miss her nor I can pretend that I know what her husband and those who actually knew her are feeling because I would be disrespectful to those who truly do. I'm 21 years old, but I have a great deal of experience with death for someone my age. Nevertheless, the moment I read that a member of this family had passed away, my heart sank. I feel like I've lost a family member and someone who'd been a part of my life somehow, someone I was connected to at some level that I feel like a piece of my soul has gone missing now. I have no idea what to say really or how to properly express what I'm feeling which makes me hope for her loved ones to have the courage to go on even more because I just can't imagine how they're feeling now...
May she rest in peace!