MOD LAJ_FETT has passed away

For those of you who may not have known her, you will learn that you did... in about 3 months, when everything on the forums has ceased working correctly.

 

As I said elsewhere I felt like I knew her through our various interactions. She was kind, caring, and had a surprisingly biting wit. I am beyond devastated. Others might have burnt out doing what she did here, but not LAJ, who never faltered in doing her best to fix all the crazy issues we've faced over the years.

Rest in Power sister.

 

Each time I had to reopen the announcement thread in Mod Squad to see if everyone was handling it well enough, I would start crying. Nothing else on these forums has ever made this sort of impact. And we've had some truly mad things befall some of our members.

She was US-born and passed in England, so there is some navigating her family is attempting to find their way through before what will be a private service, but I am writing a message from the community here to be read. Her family need to know what she dedicated her time, energy and joy to wasn't a website where people debate irrelevant space fantasy minutiae but she nearly singlehandedly held together the structure that resulted in marriages, children being born, people being talked off of ledges by others who care about them, lifelong friendships being formed and a chance for people to find their place at a table, when many of them may not have ever felt accepted into a community anywhere else. Her impact was so much more than working links and format correction.

 

@FatBurt I went directly to my PM’s too, because we had shared some fun chats.

We are here for each other, to listen and mourn together. It’s wonderful that you’re preparing a message from her community of friends, @A Chorus of Disapproval.

Gosh, this really hurts.

 

I believe it was @TCF-1138 who said he had a longheld belief that LAJ would be here on the last day the forums existed, after most of us have moved on to other things in life, and would be the one to quietly sweep up and shut the lights off. I never replied but I had already had established the same belief. When I took over as Head Admin I had the passing thought about the reality that this place may not always be here and, specifically, what if I'm going to turn out to be the last HA here? Because someone will be the last one, someday. The only comforting thing on the day I was considering that was that, if it turned out I was the last, I would log out one last time and LAJ would be the one to pull the cord.

 

As Todd said, She had a really good sense of humor. She didn't let things bother her, at least from what I always noticed. That is one quality that I wish I had.

 

I've had 24 hours to digest this news, and I am still in shock and can't type this without tears. We talked on and off over the years and earlier this year I wanted to meet up with her while I was in the UK.....she told me she 'wasn't well' and I honestly was disappointed, I did understand of course, but I'd hoped to meet up with such an amazing woman.

I spent the afternoon today with my parents, last night's news brought their lives into sharp focus for me, so it made sense to me to spend time with a couple of Octogenians.

Life is precious, it's fleeting and you don't realise that till you are 40-50ish, when you know half your journey is over.

Time will pass but I hope her memory will not fade away.

May the Force Guide you on your eternal journey Laj.

 

Very rarely do I ever struggle for words, but I find myself in that position when thinking about LAJ

I am saddened beyond words and grieving the loss of my friend and a great human. Her passing is a profound loss for her family, friends, and members of this community we call the JCF

Until we meet again my friend………..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

A truly horrible loss. I'll only be echoing others when I say that she was a mainstay rock of these boards- and it still wouldn't have been said enough. I couldn't have finished the forum merging project without her instrumental assistance. Her steady response to situations as a mod and admin were beyond commendable.

It was simply nice having her around as part of the community in the forums I either frequented or modded over the 20+ years since she registered. Whether it was books, games, films or the forums themselves, she was always there. And, as others have also expressed, it felt like she always would. As we hold up her example carrying forward, and through the enduring record of her presence that her posts on this forum here preserve, she actually will always be here.