Damn, DAMN, DAMN!

Too many emotions to sort through now--and that's just on my part.  Certain things for you are a tornado.

Just know we're ALL here for you; you're cared about because of the person you are as well as your talent.

We're with you.....

I am so very sorry... I don't know what to say... please know my prayers are with you always. 

I'm so sorry, I haven't the words. Know that my thoughts and prayers are yours ...

So sorry to hear this tragic news, skinny. When I first started posting here this year on GA, you were one of the first people to leave me a review. I looked forward to you writing me after each installment. It looks like you have many friends here, and a strong support system. I've been through this several times the past year, so if you need any advice or just someone to get angry at, please write. Ron

So sorry to hear this tragic news, skinny. When I first started posting here this year on GA, you were one of the first people to leave me a review. I looked forward to you writing me after each installment. It looks like you have many friends here, and a strong support system. I've been through this several times the past year, so if you need any advice or just someone to get angry at, please write. Ron

god, why has this year been so horrendous...?

god, why has this year been so horrendous...?

I hope and wish that coming year bring us good. I know I am wishing for a miracle, after all I am a human too...

What can I say, your stories affected me so much. I can only pray that somehow there is a miracle waiting for you, only to be given when you accept the consequences of that choice. I lost my father and mother to stage 4 cancer, so I know the seriousness of your condition. I give you the hope that in that special time when you look upon the love you have here at GA will give you the knowledge that you are loved for giving us the beauty of your stories for all time.

We have never been close. To be honest, we have barely spoken to each other. But you are very close to many of my friends in here and I consider you as a friend as well. I do not have anything to offer you other than a hug. I am sorry or you. 

Words fail when such terrible news strike out of nowhere. I wish you strength and serenity.

I didn't see this thread until today. I am devastated by this news. Skinny, I've been re–reading 18 Weeks and enjoying it even more than the first time. And there's not been a day that I haven't thought of you. I wish there was something I could do, more than just wishing for a miracle. Hugs, xxx. 

Ah SkinnyD...I am so very sorry about your rotten news. You are so very young for this to happen. It's just not fair. Please know, like Lisa, I've loved you since you first burst on the scene. And that love continues!

I haven't been able to come back here until today. Every day I think of you, skinny... every single day. Your mark is everywhere. I haven't been able to finish 'Toph', but I will. Where ever you may be now, your life mattered... my love follows you, my friend xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoooxooooxooxoxoooxoxooxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxxoox

I know this is far too late, but I didn't find this until palantir sent me the link...I first heard the news from an email sent by AC, and I signed onboard for a plan of his....

Is there any further news?  I imagine skinny is gone now, with stage 4 cancer...and I'm on the verge of tears just thinking of him. 

I ran across the results of cancer at a young age--six years old--when my mom's father died of it.  He had always been active and I remember fishing with him, and he gave me my first haircut--a buzz of course, since it was 1964.  There was nothing to be done back then for lung cancer, so he spent his last year or so at home on oxygen and pain medications.  His bed was set up in their living room so he wouldn't have to deal with stairs, and it was terrible to just see him waste away week by week.  By the end, it was hard to believe he was the same man I loved so much.

SD's reviews and chats were always the high-light of my day...and his stories kept me on the edge of my seat with almost every chapter.  GA is a sadder place without his work, and the void he's left in my heart will never be healed.  I better stop now...I'm starting to cry.

Ave atque vale, my dear friend!

The not knowing is hard, especially when I read his words about not being able to read or write, except when he's in pain, because the meds make him fade away. Maybe he never saw all the posts here. But I tell myself he knows we all think of him and miss him. I want to imagine him lounging on a cloud and dipping into our minds whenever we think of him or talk about him.

@Mikiesboy Your poem, Our Father?, really touched me.  I am an atheist, but I've grown up in a religious environment, and so I've always heard how God works in mysterious ways, how he is all-good, how he loves all his children. But I look at the world, see the disease, starvation, and war that ravages the world, and I think; If there is a god, he isn't all-good, he doesn't love us all, and the mysterious ways line is utter bull.

I'm reminded of this quote:

Quote

If God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to

Then He is not omnipotent.

 

If He is able, but not willing

Then He is malevolent.

 

If He is both able and willing

Then whence cometh evil.

 

If He is neither able nor willing

Then why call Him God?

But... I do wish that there is a loving god that watches over us, that there is a heaven for all of us, because Skinny deserves peace after having his life cut so short.

If there is an inner light common to all of us,

it surely shone in our friend Skinny.

If there is a love to bind us all together,

it dwelt with us in him.

And even if such things be fantasy,

the love and light I have read tonight

testify to hearts that yearn

and tears that burn. 

I'm just now reading this, just now discovering skinnydragon. I did not know about any of this until I started seeing/reading posts tonight honoring someone who clearly touched so many lives. I am deeply touched by what I've read and the great wave of grief expressed by everyone. I started out knowing nothing, now I'm heartbroken. This community on GA is unlike anything I've ever known. I'm sorry that I missed the opportunity to know skinny. I wish him peace. I wish the same for all of you.