This thread is always rough to look at. Grapes and I did a Thanksgiving dinner with Jon. Brian was one of the first CP dudes I met. Dan was a dude I talked to almost every day for years...I have stories for most names in this thread, if not all.
Joe G I have to add a special note... what an amazing dude and an absolute privilege to know him. I was on my way to Vegas on i-5 one time (I found the
thread) and had put out a general call to see who might come show up, when I got a call from Joe. Keep in mind this is around the time of the Pirate passes... goes sort of like this:
Joe: "Hey buddy I wanted to let you know....I'm coming to Vegas, I'll be there tomorrow."
Me: "Thats fucking great Joe, I didn't even know you were considering coming - it will be great to see you again!"
Joe: "Yeah the only thing is I wanted to warn you I'm gonna look a little different. I've recently had some medical stuff going on and well, I lost an eye. I have an eyepatch now."
Me: "Thats awful, I am so sorry to hear that. But hey, at least you don't smoke from your eye!"
Joe: "Harrrrrrr"
That was also the trip where Moki convinced the staff at Trevi @ Caesar's that E and I were celebrating a recent gay marriage and they brought us a celebratory sundae with candles. I'd never seen Joe laugh so hard.
We keep these cats alive in our memories, and we remember to remember those memories because we have a memorial wall honoring our friends.