On this second Sunday of Easter, in the year of our Lord 2004, I was working in my gardening and remembering our permanently upgraded FlyerTalk friends, johna (who gave me my first UA upgrade ever), raeban (who gave me lots of warm smiles), and Nathan Detroit, who taught me all about Munich.

Their warmth, generosity and memories will live in my heart forever.

What a thoughful post. Though I did not know any of those members, it is nice to see that they are not forgotten.


Jan

But in the interest of diversity, please note that your lord is not everyone else's lord.

My very most favorite and adored Rabbi, Raphael H. Lavine, who was deeply committed to encouraging meaningful dialogue among faiths, once looked at me and said, "What do you think they call a chair in China?"

The God we all seek, in our own fashion, is far beyond our explanation and understanding. I am certain that he/she understands our efforts and true intents.

Thanks for a thoughtful reminder of those who are no longer amongst us. While I never had the pleasure of meeting Johna, I have fond memories of meeting both Nathan and raeban.

I had the pleasure to have dinner with Johna in Stocholm a few years ago. We will always remember you.

Interesting. I was just thinking about Raeban just the other day. She was a real jewel and was soooo mischievous. And that's a trait I always enjoy, appreciate and respect. Had the pleasure of her company (and onefreeman's) many times and still miss our late night IM sessions.

I never had the pleasure of personally meeting johna. Our one and only scheduled meet was canceled due to his illness. But I fondly recall a few email conversations I had with him. And of course, his many great posts here on FlyerTalk.

Never met Nathan Detroit in person either, but we had many, many wonderful email exchanges. He was a real character with fine character! Could always make me laugh with his writing style. We had much in common to talk about.

Couple of years ago I was in Singapore with essxjay. She was very close to Nathan. He had just recently passed away and she wanted to toast his memory at the same bar where they had had drinks on another past trip where they met in Singapore. I got to the bar first and picked a table and took a seat. When essxjay showed up she scanned the many dozens of tables looking for me. When she finally spotted me, she came to the table with a kind of amazed look on her face. "What's so funny?" I asked. "This is just too strange" she said, and continued, "This is the exact table that Nathan picked the last time we were here...and you picked it too!"

"You see?" I said, "Nathan always worked in mysterious ways." We then toasted to his memory.

I had the good fortune to meet all three of these fine people over the years.

Nathan Detroit met me at Seattle airport when I flew in for SEA DO 2 and was kind enough to take me to the W Seattle and stay with me for a little while. He had many great stories to tell of his travels. He said he was looking forward to meeting essxjay who I think he met for the first time at a luncheon at a seafood place. I'm sorry that was the only time I saw him.

One of the major reasons I wanted to go to the Montreal Do hosted by flyme2 and his wife Bridgette was to finally meet johna Again, another class act like Nathan Detroit. We finally got to talk and share some travel stories. He made plans to come to the Catman DO 3 that following year and we were going to go see a Broadway show or two. Unfortunately he left us. One of the best memories of any Flyertalk event I attended or hosted was at the Catman Do 3, when dgolds and AnnaS wanted the group to pause and remember johna and raeban in prayer.

Now raeban was a lady among ladies. Our meeting started out with her husband onefreeman telling her he invited this Internet friend to their wedding (I was going to be in San Diego at the time.) She said something like "Are you nuts?" But the minute Rae and I met she felt I was not another Internet crazy but possibly a good friend. We got to spend some good times together including Maui, San Diego, the second Catman Do and PremEx and I got to see her one last time.

All three of these giving, warm people are missed but not forgotten. They are not Flyertalkers. They are true friends.

Thanks for the heads up on this thread, PremEx.

I do indeed miss nate and still think of him often. We were tigers of the same stripe in many ways but also the unlikeliest travelling duo you could ever meet.

Not only did he bring to life the city of Munich for me, but helped to set me on a path of intellectual discovery that has paid enormous dividends in my studies of philosophy of law and war. He'll never know how influentual he's been on my development as a thinker.

Funny, 20 months after his death I still have his name in my AOL address book. I refuse to delete it.

Cheers to you, Bob Gillespie.

Forgot to add this about raeban ...

The first and only time I was with Rae was in New York City on St. Paddy's Day in 2000 (I think). It was started snowing soon after we left the Waldorf to go sightseeing, and it was the first time Rae had ever seen snow. Her delight was childlike, and I'll never forget the wonderment on her face as she walked the streets of downtown Manhattan with Marty and my best friend and I.

A toast: "To absent friends"

Very nice posts! As long as these memories and stories continued to be shared, even those of us who never met these three get to know them. Their memories live on.

I think raeban loved FlyerTalk as much as FlyerTalk loved her. She chose to die wearing her Party in Paridise shirt.

I understand how you feel, essxjay, I have e-mails from all three of them that I refuse to delete.

Premex, the table outside near the door? Shared that first drink with Nathan Detroit and essxjay that wonderful night in SIN not so long ago. I look back on it now with fondness and happiness. Was a chance taken and an experience to keep as a special part of my FT memories.

Happy to see the memories being kept fresh by so many. The presence of those of whom we speak are never far away that way.

Cheers to all of you.

Mike

The photos at the bottom of your link sure bring back fond memories, PremEx.