This is Owen. Owen died today.
I first got to know Owen sometime in ‘98 or '99, on a Usenet newsgroup about computer games. I’ve been in more-or-less constant contact with him ever since, through forums, and through blogs, and through email. I met him a few times too. This picture was taken in London the last time I met him, on 29th September, 2009.
Over the last few days, he complained of a chest infection on Twitter. He was signed off work and given strong antibiotics. This afternoon, his wife tweeted in a panic that he had collapsed and that paramedics were rushing him to hospital in a critical condition. He never recovered.
He was thirty seven years old.
Owen was a great guy. He was generous and he was funny and he was honest and he was warm. I feel like I should write more here but I’m just completely overwhelmed. Simply, he was a great guy.
He is survived by his wife, Patience (some of you may know her from the ravelry forums). When I first started talking to Owen, he was, I think, a little unhappy with his life; something was missing and he didn’t know what it was. It turned out what he was missing was Patience. They got to know one another via the Internet and fell so deeply in love that they set a date for their wedding before they met for the first time. Yes, this sounds crazy. Maybe it is crazy, but what wasn’t crazy was the years they were inseparable. What wasn’t crazy was the sparkle in his eye when he talked of her. What wasn’t crazy was the sheer happiness that bounced from his words whenever he wrote anything about her. What wasn’t crazy was their very real love for each other.
RIP, Owen. I miss you. And Patience, you are in my thoughts.
Photo credit: Rev Owen (by WullieOoster)
