Reader Submitted: Mourning the Loss of Two Relayers

“I don't think there's one word that can describe a man's life.”- Citizen Kane

This is probably the hardest post I’ve had to write. I remember when I was in the hospital, Henrietta stayed up almost every night with Sidonie and Cuddly. She always presented this shy demeanor, but beyond that was a woman who was deeply loyal, deeply committed to the causes she believed in.

 Sid, Cuddly, Henrietta and I talk almost daily. Three years ago we created a Facebook chat group that we just chat into, and no matter what we always talked through things. Hospital visits, strokes, dying cats, ferrets, movie quotes only Henrietta understood, and just life in general.

If there was one thing that I could always count on, it was my troupe of four. I recently went through a bit of depression that I could not explain- it happens to all of us. I must’ve chatted into the group at 3am my time and since we all have the group on our phones we all see the alerts. Henrietta woke up and kept me company through a time that was particularly hard for me.

Sometimes it is easy to forget but Second Life is not one dimensional- we are more than just the avatars we create.

Over time all four of our lives,  in world and out of it, became important. Cuddly got a live in boyfriend toy thing, Sidonie had new cats and Henrietta lamented about ferrets. We all know each other so well that if we met in real life, I don’t think we would even notice that we weren’t hiding behind our Second Life skins.

That’s what I love about Henrietta- she is so real, so true to herself that Sid, Cuddly and I had a shoulder to lean on to and rely on. She is always full of movie quotes and tv show quotes that none of us had heard of before but yet she persisted...

Henrietta Demina had many passions. Living life with a smile and laughter was one of them. She was dedicated to her real life family and friends and treated us SL family and friends just as she would in real life. She wrote about her Strange family on her website and was immensely proud of all of our accomplishments. Henrietta had her Demina family too, passionate about role playing as vampires. She was dedicated to the character she made on Second Life, changing only her hair to accommodate Relay season.

For the last five years she was deeply, deeply passionate about Relay for Life. She and her brother Hilshire made RFLSL as real as it could be- they collected monies in real life as much as they could and usually donated it in pieces.

Henrietta was the definition of a true relayer. She attended as many events of other teams as much as possible, slowly draining that chunk of change (which was easily in the thousands dollar wise) at each team event showing her support.

She volunteered to DJ at just about every single event possible. She was passionate about the Fantasy faire, Christmas expo, you name it she was there.

Quiet but steadfast defined Henrietta’s Relay journey- she was happy to let others in the spotlight even if she was more deserving. Most recently she was heavily involved with the Christmas Expo as a host and was happy to spend her entire week only at the Expo.

She became the Team Captain of Team Strange Journeys last year and held the baton with pride. She dedicated part of her sim to the team’s accomplishments and journey.

Above all, she was the Co Coordinator of the Castle Home and Garden contest. She retired a few years ago so she made the CHG her full time job, almost literally. She worked so hard that she worked herself into having a stroke right before the Opening Ceremonies last year. She was respected and loved by all of our contestants and our merchants. It was usually her that people would go to for support, and she was more than happy to give it.

It feels strange- life is a journey and I preach that, always. This week we lost both Henrietta and Hilshire Demina. They were killed in an accident early this week and it just doesn’t make sense.

I can see Henrietta standing in front of me, giggling, saying that sometimes life is funny that way. I can see her saying a quote from a movie she admired 40 years ago, and something about “don’t worry about it”. She would probably kill me if I said anything like “I can’t do the CHG without you”. She would want you all to smile and keep fighting. She would say, “don’t worry about lil ole me!”

Henrietta, you made a profound impact on my life and that will stay with me forever. You have made a difference and we won’t soon forget it.

Henrietta and Hilshire Demina, thank you. You can rest in your coffins now, and bite as many people as you want.

We will hold a memorial service and will send details when we have them.

Rowena Dubrovna

Memorial For Riko Kamachi

By Bixyl Shuftan

A few days ago, I was contacted by Vickie Maidstone. She told me she had something to show me. I accepted her teleport request, and after a moment for they grey shapes to take form and color, I saw what looked like a shrine in front of me.

"This is a memorial shrine for Riko Kamachi," Vickie told me, "she passed away last year a year ago this month. It was a shock to the relay community. She was a member of Team Strange Journeys and a very sweet person to be with, I met her in the Dublin sims a few years back. Always out going, a kind word to all she met. ... She fought her battle and was tough to the end. But sadly we lost her before relay started last year."

I asked if it was know she was ill. "Yes," Vickie told me, "We gotten updates from her team and we kept her in our thoughts and prayers. To me, it was personal, to know somebody like her, gone but not forgotten." I asked what she was best known for outside being a Relayer for Strange Journeys. "I don't really remember much but she was always a party goer, she always knew how to make times together fun and she was very well respected no matter where she was. ... she was very much into Hogwarts according to what Cuddly Waffle and others told me. The last I spoke with Riko was in April 2014. She may have been in after that but I'm not sure."

She directed my attention back to the shrine, "But today, I had been working on this and it all came together and I made this for her team, and told them this is a gift of love from me to them. It will serve as a reminder of WHY we relay. ... honestly I cried, because it meant so much to me. ... Some reason, I did this this morning and it all came together in a way I didn't expect."

"My sharing something like this is only the

beginning yet to be," Vickie continued, "This year into 2017 I am making it a mission to talk more about what as a survivor it means to me, I will been relaying 10 years in 2017. So this is special. When I even first joined Second Life, the average time was 2.5 - 3 years, think I lasted a bit longer. If it wasn't for Relay, I (would have) been long gone before now, but I have a mission yet to finish. So I (have) been around."

When I expressed my opinion that the Relay teams would have plenty in store for the season, Vickie responded, "Yes we will. Everybody is getting fired up and its gonna be a year for sure. ... I'm trying very hard to stay upbeat and positive, I know that last weekend was a bit rough in a number of areas we had concerns with. So, I'm just gonna stay positive and go like crazy to do my part and raise what my team can. I think the most important thing is being positive and knowing we're giving our all. So, $300,000.00 is our goal this year to make 3 million USD. ... We're gonna do it."

Vickie drew my attention back to the shrine, "So anyway, I thought I share a little something with your readership. ... it's a labor of love ... As a foot note, I will present this to Team Strange Journeys. ... I will be talking with them soon."

Harbour dAlliez (103, 132, 21)