News of our beloved Al -- sent from his wife, Eileen

[mishb]

I, like everyone else on this site, am sitting here with tears rolling down my face and not being able to see clearly to type.

I have said this so many times before.....but this is such a sucky disease.

People ask me, how can you have such a friendship with these people that you haven't met and live over the other side of the world from.......but you know what, it is true, I don't have a friendship with these people.......these people are family.

May your God bless you Al and may you be, forever, free from pain.

[annekat]

I don't know if this is appropriate or not, sheds light or not, but this quote is part of a PM I'd been sharing with Al just 2 weeks ago:

"...I hope I am not going the other direction. Might just be the heat (80 degrees), but I find it hard to do anything these days..."

Sighs...wipes tears away...love ya all...

Don, you might be a good person to write something for Al's memorial.

[annekat]

Don, you might be a good person to write something for Al's memorial.

Not to exclude anyone else who might want to step up and do this! Or we could collect thoughts from various forum members and consolidate them somehow. I just thought of Don because I remember lots of spirited exchanges between him and Al.

[chrisTIn@]

My deepest condolences to Eileen Swanson and the family.
I'm so sorry for your loss...

[crackers]

Hi this is Sue John's wife,I never had the pleasure of chatting to Al and getting to know him but he really made a big impression on my husband i came down at 2am this morning to find John sobbing his heart out at the loss of his online friend.You are a really special man Al who will be greatly missed in this household.Now for Andrew we would really love to send a card to this incredible mans family and maybe put some money towards some flowers from the group but i don't know how we could sort this or if it is possible to arrange.John is going in hospital on Monday morning for his hip replacement but i will pop onto the group each day to see what is happening and to let you know how john is.R.I.P. Al <3

[KathyB]

I wake up this morning feeling just as sad as I was yesterday hearing the news of Al's passing. I decided to go back and read some of his previous posts, including his story. What a brilliant man with a gift for sharing in a way we could all relate. Technical, yet filled with insights and examples to help us understand. If possible, let's figure out who would like to create some words for his funeral ASAP. It's great that some of you are in the PNW. Is Al's email known to all? I'm emailing Eileen now. Hopefully, she has access to the forum and can view your postings and well wishes.

KB

[Widthofacircle]

Very sad news. Condolences to Al,s family and loved ones.
Brendan

[renidrag]

Just learned the news now. So sorry for the family and like all others here will miss his support, knowledge and wit. His writing style kept me reading almost every one of his posts. So long my friend, so sad, so sudden.
Dale

[drz]

What a sad thing. I was just thinking of sending him a message to check on how he was doing. I remember when we shared stories about our Wegener's and i encouraged him to share his story on the forum. He did in a very powerful way. He also encouraged me to share mine too. I think we all counted on Al to give us a more scientific slant on many of our common issues and to help us keep abreast of latest research findings.

I especially appreciated his humorous quips and comments and willingness to go out of his way to offer a detailed explanation to many questions and efforts to make it simple enough for most of us to understand. Many times the comment was made here as to Al can provide more details and information on many technical issues of our disease and treatment. His contributions will be greatly missed.

His time on the forum was way too brief but he lead the way in his involvement. No one posted more posts per day than Al. His sudden passing also strongly reminds us of how fragile life can be especially with our compromised immune systems. I believe Al was a great example on how to try make the best of our situation and to live life as fully as possible. I know we all here have a great sense of sadness and loss over his death even though most of us never met him except on line. So I can't imagine the grief his family must feel over his sudden passing. I hope there is a way to express our condolences to the family and the gratitude for the contributions he made here.

I think one of last posts made to another member here are also his words to us to help us deal with our grief at this sad time:

"Courage does come hard, but think of how brave you must be just to live--and think of those you are living for.Even more reason to take extra care of yourself. We love you."

Al

[KathyB]

Well said, drz. I, too, remember that quote. Perhaps it can be a part of our tribute to him...

KB