"God's finger touched him, and he slept..."

I wake up this morning and my grief is enormous, and I ask myself why (though.."Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.")? The man was enormous, he dared to say what we all were thinking, and he did it so well. Whether you liked him or not, agreed with him or not, you had to appreciate this about him. He was a prolific writer. I really feel he was 'one of a kind'. He will be sorely missed.

The silence is deafening...he had so much more to say, I am certain, and I wanted to hear it. Today, I feel like I have no place to go. But then my next thought is for the network of friends he created, all of his readers, many who became 'real life' friends with him, and those of us who were not as fortunate, were still made to feel as if we knew him (and one another). He was gifted in that way, and we were the better for it. We became part of his 'family' in a sense, and he wove this magic with his words, and I looked forward to my daily dose of 'Acidman', as I know many did. Today, I know I am not the only one grieving, and in a way I feel a bit selfish here, but then what's one to do when left behind with such a great void?

My heart goes out to his 'real family', his daughter, Sam, and son, Quinton, and his brother, of whom he was very proud (and if I misued whom here, I'm sure he's cussin' about that, as well as my mistakes in grammar), and his dear grandmother. It was obvious he loved them all so much, and my thoughts and prayers are with them today and in all the days ahead.

Thinking of him just now, it's so difficult to decide what I feel most. I go from wanting to post a pic of my 'red toenails' in his memory, ha, to feeling sadness for what this means to blogdom. Then I think of the example he was for all of us 'aspiring bloggers', and I'm grateful, we will always have that...his words will live forever in our hearts...I know he will continue to inspire us.

One of my favorite poets is Alfred, Lord Tenneyson. My favorite poem is 'In Memoriam A.H.H.' a poem written in memory of his dear friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died at a very young age. Later, I will share some of my favorite lines from that poem here in Rob's memory, but would urge those of you who knew him to find this poem and read it for yourself. One of the best lines from another of his poems, 'Ulysses', is, "I am a part of all that I have met." I know that each of us will carry in our hearts and minds, some part of the 'magic' that was 'Acidman' for the rest of our days! May he rest in peace.