Josey

So...

You all know I'm big on stories. That we're in effect walking stories, and that's how we're made immortal.

A few years ago, I was hanging out in Northern California with my friends and playmates. There had been a lot of highs and lows, but over one day, we'd hit a vibe that was completely fun, delightful, and us. We were taking a respite, watching 'American Pickers' while still in full costume, when I got a message from Tery informing me that his internet friend Joe Pratt was coming over, with a graphics card that he was selling Tery. We all rolled our eyes, hastily getting out of everything to deal with someone outside the bubble. I asked my friends about joe, and discovered he was a sweet guy, but a lot of eye rolling. I knew immediately that they had a tery in their life as well. A few minutes later, as we're no longer dressed like something out of a failed children's show pilot,  Joe comes with his girl. Joe is like a million feet tall, and rail thin. bearded and bespectacled, and just really energetic. His girl is a sullen bitter mess, that holds a tight leash on him. I feel the vibe, and know it well. I wasn't 3 years past being in that situation myself. As my close friends are trying to figure out what to do with Joe and his girl that doesn't involve strangling them on the spot, I show off to Joe my haul from Japan Town. The cookies, the costume pieces, the toys, and most of all, all my fashion rags.

It was like Oppenheimer watching Trinity.

He'd mentioned he'd seen some clothes like that in costume sites. I hit him with every brand name I knew, every style descriptor, the names of individual articles of clothes, and as he's flipping through magazines like Kera, Gothic Lolita Bible, and Alice Deco A La Mode, I'm showing him my archive on my computer of costumes and designs. He's ensnared. I even manage to show his girl a bunch of stuff that's dark and edgy that makes her day. Rael and Trajan just sit back, letting me babysit these two. We have dinner and I get back.

Over time, I learned about Joe's network of friends. He was close with a lot of people I was close to, and had an online presence as an artist and player. Tery was close with him, and he had interests as a tech-head and gearhead that weren't mine. But I'd notice that other artists would reference him, and he'd be featured in someone's webcomic. Now that I knew his interests and passions, I would send him photos and illustrations that would reflect his interests. Always he would be warm, exuberant, and delightful. Every time he wrote an email, you could practically see it in cursive. His drawings were sweet and cute and playful, and reflected something you didn't see in a lot of art in our 'community'. How -fun- play can actually be, and how much it can make you laugh, and giggle, and know affection. His 'scott pilgrim' leilei is one of my favorite pictures, and the archives of his work through the internet reflect his joy and his internal journey.

Most important for me, was how much he loved my friends. I could see it in every email, and would just bend over backwards if I needed something done for them that was special.

In time, the bitter sullen girl left, as bitter sullen girls are wont to do, and he was adrift for a bit, but from what I saw, and what I read, he was coming into his own, understanding who he was and what he wanted. And I saw the love he had for some special people in his life. I would tease him about getting him dressed, and he would tell me that it was sometime soon. The next time I came over, we would all go shopping together, and I could work my magic on him.

On Saturday night, Randy woke me up with a call from Tery. A driver had run a red light and plowed through the drivers side of Josey's car. He died instantly. I told the people I had to tell, the ones who had only just begun talking to him online, the ones who were close friends but who were far away. I shared stories with the people that were on the other side of the rael-trajan bubble, and then was on the phone with my darling rael and trajan sharing their sorrow. Like Renfaire, the fur/kink dipshit network started expressing their grief on the boards, many having never once encountered the person, but wanting to be part of something. In some cases, though, I saw the real impact Joe had on people's lives, and got to see their stories about him which were the same and different than mine.

He was magic. He was warm and sweet, and nerdy and awkward, and magical. My only regret is that I waited too long to take him out to play, that I thought there would always be tomorrow. All I have now is his story. And I loved him, and I still love his story.