Words

Words have been failing me since I heard the news about Jamie and Ann Eyberg. For the first 24 hours all I could really say was, “God, I don’t even have the words.” Which, you will note, is not much worth saying.

What I was trying to get out was that I’ll miss talking about his family and imagination, and his cheerful, supportive presence as a fellow writer on a long, long journey. That kind of thing leaves a vacuum when it disappears, and there’s no ignoring it.

Even more than that, I’ll miss all those stories, the ones he didn’t get to tell, and remember him by the ones he did.

My family is thinking of his now, as I’m sure you all are. But since I finally found the words, I thought I’d use them.

Chris Fletcher of M-Brane Sci-Fi has collected a lot of the memorial posts gone around these past few days. There are links in those posts to the memorial fund set up for their children, and efforts by a lot of our Venn Diagram (as Alan so aptly put it–with Aaron’s help) writing communities to the same end, and to honor their memory. There can’t really be a bright spot, but it does warm the heart a little to be reminded that people are awesome.