Way back before the Internet was what it is now, back when only the most smartest and high technicalest people were the ones who got a picture on the internet (and then it was a 256-color GIF) and when all of the online communities were completely neon-green text based, I was introduced to one such community while sitting, bleary-eyed, in my college dorm’s computer lab.

I was instantly addicted.  It was the complete opposite of my life at the time - I found a place where people talked freely to me and even, gasp, thought I was funny.  We’d chat until the wee hours of the morning, and I came to know a group of people that would occasionally get together in real life, to close that awkward gap of knowing someone without ever having met them.

This community was very large but at the same time relatively small - it seemed like everyone knew everyone else.  These parties led to close real-life friendships, and even sparked a few romances of people who eventually married and had kids together.

I still visit the community occasionally.  It died down a little bit at a time when the internet started expanding and evolving.  It’s now relatively quiet and the same group of people always seem to be there.  There are 2 or 3 people that I’ve always talked to every time I’ve been online, we always seem to be on at the same time.

I logged in today for the first time in several weeks and was surprised to see that I had 6 messages - and found out that the 1 person I’ve always kept in touch with the most died unexpectedly last week.  She was in her early 30s, a beautiful, smart, and caring woman.  She was the first person to push me toward photography; I had shared some of my pictures of Iceland with her when I first got to borrow a film SLR.  She kept pushing me and pushing me to submit them to a stock photography agency, and I never really felt like I could do it, but just knowing that she thought so much of them was so flattering.

It’s such a strange feeling to lose someone you know like that - someone I’ve only met a handful of times but have talked to countless hours online.  Someone I always looked forward to talking to when I logged in and hoped to get to meet again face-to-face soon.  And now that meeting will never happen.