kenderstest

Yesterday I woke to to the news that a blogger I respected was killed in Iraq. If you read any kind of political blogs at all, right or left, you probably heard about Major Andrew Olmsted, who blogged at Obsidian Wings, The Rocky Mountain News and at his own site, AndrewOlmsted dot com.

As of this writing, at just after 1 AM PST, there are over 600 comments, and they are still pouring in. Many of them from long time readers, and many of those long time lurkers, but there are many, many comments from readers that never, until now, even heard of Major Andrew Olmsted, but they too have been shedding tears after reading the blog post he wrote to be posted in the event of his death.

Watching those comments pour in, and seeing the depth of grief from people who didn't even know him has reminded me of the closeness one attains with just the written word, even if those words are so many pixels on a computer screen.

Andrew asked that his death not be used to further a political agenda, a request that some people could not abide by, and the people that made those kinds of comments were deleted and quickly banned. Pushing a political agenda has no place at a wake, virtual or not, and showing such a lack of class only reinforces the stances of those against you, and drives away those that might agree with you.

We have lost a bright and vibrant voice, and we are all the lesser for it, no matter where we fall in the political spectrum.

I have lost friends in Iraq, and fret every day for the ones still there, and the ones that are heading back, especially my brother and one of my best friends, "Handi-Snax."

Snax once told me, "Dude, if I die in uniform, don't cry for me, I will have died for something, and doing something I love." BUt if that day ever comes that my friend has met his end I will cry, and I will rail against his death, and then I will raise a toast to a great man.

But that is not the reason for this post. The outpouring for Major Olmsted, from those that knew him and those that didn't is amazing. We share a very small globe, and this internet has brought us all one hell of a lot closer. On my sidebar is a list of other bloggers, many of them I know very well now, especially since so many of them are involved in Wide Awakes Radio. I have made a point of meeting up with those I could in my travels, and have many of them on speed dial, and talk to them on a regular basis.

I was even the best man for one of them, and had not actually met him until it was time to go to the wedding. That is how close we all are now. We can communicate with each other at our leisure, and many people online grow very close, lending each other support traditionally reserved for those closest to us.

There are several more bloggers I know that I will meet in person, and because of our blogging our first meeting will not be awkward first meetings, but simply the physical continuation of a friendship that has blossomed electronically.

When I went to Ohio to meet Gribbit our first meeting was one of old friends, and the camaraderie was instantaneous. When I met Cao and Rick Moran for dinner it felt like a gathering of old friends. Hanging out with Wild Bill felt like I was at my brothers house, and hanging out with Kit in the parking lot of a roadside diner is Oklahoma felt like I was just stopping in to say hey to an old friend.

Other bloggers I have met online, gotten to know, then met in person were the same way.

We reach out to others every day. And sometimes we forget that our words have impact, or worse yet never know it at all.

So to all of my friends online, you have touched me. You have made me laugh, cry, think, yell and smile. We have commiserated, conspired, planned, schemed and brainstormed together, offered each other comfort when it was needed, advice when it wasn't, and generally been an extended family, but a family of choice.

You know who you are, and I love you one and all (but not in a brokeback way, Wild Bill) so from me, to all of you, THANK YOU!!!!!