In Memory Of @weywerdSun
Last night while I was tweeting about Alex Jones’ appearance on the Piers Morgan show and how sometimes the screen on my iPhone 4s gets big, really big and I’m not able to size it down no matter how frantically I tap on it, I came across a tweet on the passing of @weywerdSun.
My first reaction was shock. What?! I couldn’t believe it. I thought of his avatar, how much I liked that he was facing the sun, welcoming it. Then I went to his Twitter page and re-read his description: “The more I learn the less I know, but I’m still curious, seek both wisdom and compassion, believe All is One and that ignorance is the enemy,” which along with his avatar is what made me follow him.
I think that my second reaction is still ongoing. It is between acceptance and disbelief. He’s gone. Yesterday, his granddaughter tweeted that he had passed at the end of November and was found with his iPad on his lap. She added, “Thank you all for your thoughts it’s good knowing so many people cared about my grandpa, thank you! Sorry you found out so late.”
So, yes I accept that he has passed. Yet, I still cannot believe it and I’m also taken aback by how much his death has affected me. I did not know him personally. I don’t know his real name or where he lived. I just found out that he was a grandfather and that he used an iPad, probably to find sources for his blog posts, like I do. That is all, yet I’m deeply affected by his death.
Is it because this is the first time that someone I “know” on Twitter dies? Is it because death is something that happens in the physical world and I had never associated it with a virtual one? Is it because the voice of someone who was kind, compassionate and curious is now forever silent? I don’t know.
However, I do know this. All those who think that technology isolates, that it alienates us from each other are wrong. I began my Twitter adventure hesitantly. I wasn’t sure how to use it or what to say. I thought it was a superficial tool and I hated the 140-character limit and its grammar-killing consequence. But I have found an incredible community of funny, caring people who are passionate about issues and about connecting with others.
It has taken me by surprise how close I feel to those with whom I connect on a regular basis. I never imagined that I could care for total strangers who I have never met, often without even a photo to go by. I get to know them by the short sentences that they write and by those that they retweet or favor. Yet, I can honestly say, without any sarcasm, that I love my tweeps.
It is true that I have also encountered haters. But for every one of those who tweet to tear down, I have found so many more who tweet to build a better world. @weywerdSun was one of them. It seems that his last tweet was on November 25th, three days after Thanksgiving. This is turn makes me have disparate thoughts of gratitude. I’m grateful that he got to see President Obama being re-elected, that we mutually followed and connected with each other, and that he died peacefully instead of in a hospital hooked up to machines.
@weywerdSun followed 5,482 entities; had 5,661 followers; and wrote 108,201 tweets. A bit more knowledge on a man I knew very little about but whom I will deeply miss. I hope, with all my heart, that he’s resting in peace and I dedicate this refrain to him from Kansas’ Carry On My Wayward Son:
Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
That was beautifully expressed.
Thank you. I hesitated about writing it but I couldn’t bring myself to write about anything else. I’m glad I wrote the post in the end.
Can’t stop the tears. His insight and comments were powerful and will be missed by all of us.
Yes he will be missed. Has been missed. We are all grieving for him today.
I only just learned of his passing too and was so shocked. He and I had followed each other on Twitter & I enjoyed his tweets, vision, attitude. Don’t know why I hadn’t noticed no tweetsfrom him since end of November; holiday stress and illness I guess. He will be sorely missed.
Yes, he will be sorely missed but he will not be forgotten.
Thank you a lot for writing this.
I had no choice. I couldn’t bring myself to write about any other topic. I strongly felt I had to do it, that’s all. It was cathartic. Thank you.
Just thanks.
Thank you. Your comment is brief but no less powerful.
Thank you. Your words are what so many of us are feeling.
Thank you. I’m glad to hear this.
Thanks for this, it expresses so well how so many of us are feeling.
You expressed so beautifully my exact feelings about the loss of this wonderful man who I knew only in this surreal twitter world. I am surprised at how deeply his passing has made my heart ache. I am a newbie to twitter and his welcome (follow) embrace gave me courage to speak my mind. So thank you again for bringing his spirit into your memorial.
Thank you and you’re welcome. Welcome to the Twitter family. I wish that @weywerdSun knew how much he was loved and appreciated.
A beautiful thing that @weywerdSun shared and showed to us was integrity of character and strength of mind.
In our new world of Twitter, physical fragility is no burden, until now, upon losing the voice of a friend.
.@weywerdSun, thank you for bringing our minds together again, although this time in mourning. Your thoughts are missed by thousands.
Hey there opinionista,
thanks for writing this. i too learned about Weywerd Sun’s passing on twitter last night. i was so shocked and saddened to hear it, and so shocked & almost confused by my reaction, that i jumped up off the couch, went and woke up my husband, sat on the edge of the bed saying many of these same things you’ve written here. I felt close to him but never ‘knew’ him. How was that? you are right that technology can connect us, in ways I suppose we hadn’t imagined. I suppose as we’ve learned to love in this virtual world, we will also have to learn to grieve in it. this post is a really nice step in that journey. thank you!
deb recently posted..dead lizard in the freezer, and other tales of woe
Hi Deb,
It seems that your reaction, our reaction, is shared by many who have heard of @weywerdSun’s death. It speaks volumes about our shared humanity and more about the type of person that he was. A man who showed us a small glimpse of himself on Twitter but that glimpse was big enough to make us connect with him in a very real and meaningful way, despite the virtual medium. He will be sorely missed but I know, without a doubt, that he will not be forgotten.
You Comments Are Admirable….We DID Love WEY, for being Himself…A Realist and TrustWorthy MAN. I Miss him terrible…..
Thank you. My comments are simply a reflection of who he was.
Thank you for your posting. I will miss Weywerd Sun very much. I consider him a friend. We communicated directly on several occasions. I know that his wife passed away from cancer. He was a gentle soul. I was ill for over six months last year. I wasn’t on twitter for months. It is so sad that when I returned he is gone. May he Rest In Peace
I’m sorry that you came back to Twitter with such sad news. His death has been a shock to all of us who interacted with him. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you. I hope that you find solace in remembering his kindness. And yes, may he rest in peace. That is our wish.
Every time I discover a report of some exciting development in Green Energy I want to tweet it to @weywerdSun because I know he would love it and share it. So many things I want to ask his wise opinion on. He stood really tall and will be remembered long on Twitter.
Absolutely. He is greatly missed.
One of my favorite Tweeters, tweeted the link to your blog post today. I, like you, miss weywerdSun very much. And yes, I too cried. I noticed his tweets missing from my TL in December, but assumed, like I’m sure many did, that he was away for the holiday’s. weywerdSun had a rare insight into life – he possessed a great deal of wisdom. If there is a hereafter, I am sure there was a very special place set aside for him. One of the kindest, most thoughtful tweeps I have encountered. RIP weywerdSun