Another Update
Posted by sabrinaremains on September 30, 2008
Rystefn is still in the hospital, and he’s in less pain now. I guess the doctors finally found something that wold work on him and managed to convince him to take it… or more likely, Kate convinced him. She stayed with him all last night, and to hear him telll it, she was cracking the whip all over the poor staff. She’s staying with him again tonight, and probably every night for as long as he’s there.
I passed along your messages to him today, and you guys lifted his spirits so much. It was nice to see him smiling again, and even to laugh some. I wrote down some responses and I hope I didn’t get anything mixed-up. He’s still in and out of it sometimes, and it’s hard to sort out inside jokes from… you know.
Jadedwon: It would be more profound to see an atheist praying, but he appreciates the sentiment, if not the thought, anyway.
Elyse: He said he would love for you to smuggle him your boobs any time but that he was going to not say anything crude about tacos and that you would either be very proud or very disappoined about that. Then he said that if you’re disappointed, you could bring him your taco, and he would kiss it better.
Kimbo Jones: If he added anything to your life by disagreeing with you, then he feels that his life truly has meaning. He says that since you can’t pay it back, to please try to pay it forward.
SteveT: Daughters certainly do count, and any prayer that involves kissing pretty girls is the right kind
Killyosaur: He says to remind you that he’s lived more in his 28 years as most two people twice his age, and that 112 is quite a respectable age, thank you. Then he said not to mourn for him dying so young, but to mourn for the world losing him after too short a time.
Improbable Bee: Kiss whoever you want to kiss. That’s the important bit. Then he started talking about showers and rain, and I don’t know if that’s for you or not, but it was very sexy.
Masala Skeptic: He said he very much enjoyed your company, and that he would have shared as many drunken nights with you as you could want. Then he pretended to apologize for checking out your butt when you turned away from him.
JanieBelle: He says to kiss your Kate the way he kisses him Kate and he’ll call it square. If you send him graphic descriptions.
Bug Girl: He says to thank you for caring so much and that he’s sorry he snapped. You were trying to help, and he was an ass.
If I missed anyone, I’m very, very sorry. Remind me and I’ll pass it on tomorrow. He appreciates all the kind thoughts and wants you to know he loves you all very much.
The Last Road 
Anthroslug said
Let him know that even though I was usually more of a lurker than a talker on the forums (and as such, I doubt he’d know who I am), I always enjoyed seeing what he had to say, he gave me many a laugh, and that for someone I’ve never met face-to-face, I am remarkably moved by much of what he wrote here.
killyosaur said
I do mourn the fact that the world is losing him after a short time, I mourn that loss anytime I hear of someone dying at such a young age, and he has been an entertaining one to read, and I would’ve liked to have met him, he certainly seems like an interesting fellow.
Joy Wang said
Firstly, if you could, please tell him that though 112 is quite respectable, 340 is even more so. I will mourn all the same, for him, and for the world as well.
Secondly, on the Teen Skepchick threads, he always had something interesting to say. whether or not I agreed with him all the time is another thing entirely, but tell him thank you for opening my mind to another point of view. I will always remember that.
Thirdly, I regret having never met him in person–he would have been an interesting person to know.
Fourthly, tell him that I’ll be thinking about him today, and tomorrow, and the day after, and then some.
Joy
Imrryr said
I’ve only spoken to Rystefn once or twice here, and have always been more of a lurker because it takes me forever to think of what I want to say with words. All I can think to say to him at this time is ‘thanks for posting on the Skepchick threads’. His posts there are usually the most interesting to read, and I can honestly say that I’ve become more open-minded about a few things (important things like the subjects of love and self-expression for example) since I’ve read what he’s had to say. So I would like to thank him for that.
I will be thinking about him. And once I finish reading “The Warlord of the Air” I will move straight on to “Behold the Man” because he recommended it.
sabrinaremains said
Thank you all for your kind comments. I will be sure to pass on everything to him tomorrow. It will do him good to hear that he had a positive impact.
Joy Wang said
Thank you, as well, Sabrina, for being a friend, and for passing along our messages.
sabrinaremains said
I wish I could do more. I know he’d be doing so much more for me if it was the other way around.
Protesilaus said
Sabrina, you can add me to the list of people who care. Luckily, I saw your post today. Tell Rystefn that I’ll miss going rounds with TrueSkeptic with him, let alone seeing him win that $10K. I too wish I could have met him in person, and ask him what the most beautiful place he has been was; I would like to see it. Of course, if it’s in the bed of a beautiful woman then he doesn’t need to elaborate and at least I have shared something in common with him.
He has at least lived more than I have in my 24 years and probably more than if I reach 48. I loved his perspective and his humor, I didn’t agree with him on everything, but he made an impact on the way I think about issues he held dear.
Paul
sabrinaremains said
I think you understand him very well, Protesilaus, to say that. It’s exactly the sort of thing he would say. Then he would tell you to go to Ireland.
sabrinaremains said
wait a minute… At first I thought that said ten dollars. That says then THOUSAND dollars!!! Is that a typo or something? Did I miss something here?
Protesilaus said
@Sabrina
Trust me you didn’t miss much, just some guy on Skepchick who liked to make bets that he had no intention of seeing through and Rystefn was the first to take him up on the offer.
I feel I understood Rystefn better than I knew him. He spoke from his heart and showed where his feelings came from; I respect him immensely for being able to share like that. And I am glad about Ireland; I have been there in the summer when it rains and know how beautiful the land is. I will have to share that with my love one day, I know how much she loves the rain, and we have our own story from one.
Take care Sabrina, you are allowing us to share these last few days with him, and I thank you for that. He is lucky to have you in his life through this, as much as you were having him in yours.
sabrinaremains said
Bee: I will tell him. He really loves the rain, and has this way of making everyone else love it, too. Chelsea is the same way. When they get together it makes his feedback loop of joy and happiness that’s so amazing…
Protesilaus: Yes, he always did have this way of wearing his heart right out on his sleeve, but he made it into a strength, not a vulnerability. If you kiss your love in the rain in Ireland, then I think he would say that you’ve lived a life worth living. I know I would. I don’t care if it sounds like something right out of a trashy smut novel, I think it’s probably the most romantic thing I can think of, and I bet she would, too.
SteveT said
Hi Sabrina,
Just wanted to check in again and let you know that you and Rystefn are still often in my thoughts throughout the day. I hope you have a good support network there that can help you out. I also hope that the doctor’s are continuing to keep Ryst’s pain under control.
I’m glad that Rystefn has gotten a chance to find out how many people he has touched whom he never even met. It’s good to remember how much I love the rain. I grew up in western Washington, so you either grow to love the rain there, or you go nuts. My favorite part is how it makes the air smell sometimes just as it’s starting or just when it’s finished. We are mostly water, and that smell reminds me of how much a part of the world we are. Too often we think of ourselves as being separate from our surroundings, but we’re all really just slightly more solid bits of a very liquid world.
Peace and blessings, Sabrina.
JanieBelle said
Just popping in to check on Rystefn, and to thank you for continuing to pass the messages back and forth, Sabrina.
Kisses to you both from all of us in The Collective.
killyosaur said
@JanieBelle: What kind of kisses is the collective giving? Big, wet sloppy ones, perhaps? I actually of a great-uncle who gets his lips good and wet before giving kisses. Of course he does it as a prank of sorts. He’s an entertaining one.