Even though I haven't been posting, I've been definitely keeping tabs on this thread in my lurker way. Though I'm not a person of any organized faith, there are times that I find too many coincidences surrounding a single moment to make me wonder if there isn't something karmic happening:
I've only been lurking on jphip for a little over half a year now, and focusing on IshiYoshi stuff, and I don't do IRC. So I never crossed paths with Jab in any significant way to my memory.
I remember meeting him at the bowling alley for AX and when he introduced himself. I was thrown off because I didn't realize he was saying his alias rather than an easily recognizable first name, (and the loud music and chatter contributed to my momentary confusion.) And that was the most of our encounter for the rest of the trip, since I tend to stay lone wolf and do my own thing.
After AX, I realized I became an Aika fan because she was absolutely cute and adorable. So I checked out her official thread on this board to get a sense of other peoples' take on her and I came across this posting by Jab:
http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=7305.msg582465#msg582465I was truly impressed. Enough to think about responding, and even putting a Thanks (both of these acts really being very rare for me.) But, as usual, I got distracted and moved on to other things.
A couple of hours later, when I revisited the board, Dai posted the alert about Jab being deathly ill.
Then to see the posting of his passing. (
Dai, again, thank you for including me in the text blast. I guess I really am part of the
jphip family in a second or third cousin kind of way.)
And now, well... everyone has posted better words than I ever could on Jab as a person.
It's a moment like this that reminds me of my own brush with an intense illness several years ago that has permanently changed my perspective that life is will always seem very short no matter how old you are. So always make the most of it by looking forward, and by cherishing the lessons and memories (and people) you encountered to form who you are now.