For my healer and my closure
Not everyone is into online relationships, and by that, I just mean people making friends online - not the romantic kind. I was told once by an ex-wife "Those people aren't real."
Today, I'm pretty sure my tears are very real.
I've played World of Warcraft since it has been out. I tend to be a "soloer" - someone who just likes to get in and play against the game, yet have other people to talk to while doing so. I admit this makes for what is effectively a 15$ a month chat room. I guess I could blow 15$ a month in worse ways.
But eventually, even the most avid soloer will meet someone they get along well with. Such was my experience with Jason Lacroix, aka Arandor the dwarven priest. I'm not sure why, but as gamers we were a good match. With Jason, the ratio of conversation to game was right for me - some people are just balls-to-the-walls playing and there is very little human interaction, and as I said, the reason I like to solo in an online game is because I have other people to shoot the shit with. Figuratively, of course.
When I say "we grew up together" I mean our characters in the game. I was the damage dealer, and he was my healer. Between the two of us, we were formidable. The guild we were in together went on to conquer a lot of the high end stuff, and we had a lot of great times together. He's the only World of Warcraft player I ever took the time to meet in person. He was a healer in real life as well. A nurse practitioner. He was a dedicated father and husband, he was my closest friend in the game, and he was, in fact, quite real.
Yesterday I got home from a two week stint in Africa to learn from an email that Jason had been killed in a car accident. I guess there really isn't much more to say.
Jason - Mari and I miss you. Rest in peace my dear friend.