As I said in the super long Wally thread, I’m going to try to interact more with people on the boards. I never took the opportunity to do so with Wally, and I regret it now.
Don’t fry me too bad.
I think what I’m going to do is start actually interacting with you (you know…posting more than once a month). I regret never talking to Wally, only reading his posts, laughing or thinking, moving on. I regret never getting to know Wally as well as I could have, but now it’s too late for that. And I’ve never gotten to know any of you…so I am going to try.
Techchick, I would like the file for the shirt when you are able to send it.
And if anyone knows where cards/flowers could be sent, I would appreciate the info.
In remembrance of Wally, I’ve been trying to use and enjoy the boards as I normally would. I think that’s what he’d want. It hasn’t been easy, though…
I grabbed hold and hugged tight and close to my heart, 3 different people who mean the world to me, people I take for granted will be there tomorrow to hold up the sky in my world.
I pray with all my heart to never lose this feeling.
I told some friends on another board about Wally and how his death made me see how special my internet friends are to me.
I have also made sure to let people I love know I do more often.
I’ve changed my sig to my favorite Wally quote.
I’m going on liberty tonight. I hope to get a lap dance from a spider web-adorned nurse holding a dead hamster who arrived to the club on a puke neon-green cycle.
If that falls though, I’ll raise a glass of Molson’s in his honor.
Hey, I like the banner! Good work Tc. 
I wrote him an instrumental song and recorded it last night. On Monday i’m gonna burn it onto a CD so I can put it on my comp. and then put it on the net. You don’t mind putting it onto your page Opal, so everyone can hear it?
I made a page in my scrapbook with his picture and my fave post, the magazine article titles one. I think it looks nice and I will always remember the guy I admired but never met.
I said :wally at work today.
I am not retiring my sig line because I was so happy when Wally made it. But, I will not use it here out of deference for the people who are.
Techchick, the banner is beautiful.
Cried again when I saw the banner. It’s wonderful!
I lit a candle for him, and when it burned out I said a farewell.
Tomorrow I will be planting strawberries in my garden. I think it is kind of fitting if you think about it. Strawberries spread out all over the place and go everywhere, they also keep giving.
Wally a wonderful being touched a lot of us and he gave us many things.
I would have planted flowers or something else, but I wanted something that comes back year after year and brings happiness and sunshine. Yeah, flowers can do that too, but strawberries also give us more things than prettiness and scent.
Sorry if it sounds a bit crazy. I have a hard time wording things running around in my head sometimes.
Mistress Kricket
A few hours after I heard Wally died I called my 82 year old grandparents.
That night, I documented the finances, in case my wife needs to go looking for where the money is.
Life is a fleeting thing.
I planted a tree. It’s a little sugar maple. I was going to put it in my back yard, but instead I took it with me camping.
It stands on the south end of an island in the Mississippi, just beyond the treeline, where the forest turns to grass.
WallyM(aple)7.
What a beautiful tribute Rysdad!
I’m telling my mom and kids more often (if that’s possable) that I love them.
I am making a point to remember that there is a real living, breathing person behind every name here and whether I know them or not, I will try to emphasize with their grief and problems, even if all I can do is say “sorry”.
And mostly, if there is a member I respect and want to know, I will try to add something meaningful to their thread, even if it means that I’ll get called a putz once in a while.
Life is short with no promises, if you don’t say it now, there’s a good chance you never will.
Rest in peace, Wally…not a stranger, just a friend I never got a chance to meet.
I’ve decided that I am going to live like there’s no tomorrow because one day, there won’t be. For too long I have lived for everyone else, by everyone else’s rules but no more. If I want to only clean my house one day a week because I spent the other six having fun–so be it. If I want to take the day off work because it is beautiful and I don’t want to waste it, I am going to. And since I want to have a baby (actually, several babies) and enjoy them before I get too old and/or wrapped up in a career, I am going to! I am going to have the little house, dog, kids, husband and white picket fence that I always dreamed of and no one is going to talk me out of it!
I am also trying to remember that all those names on my patient list at work are real people with real family members who are terrified of losing them. I am keeping in mind that when people are scared of losing the most important people in their lives, they often do not care about being polite or patient. I am trying to extend extra courtesy to all families and friends of patients that I speak with and I am encouraging others I work with to do the same. Wally’s death helped me realize that just because you cannot see someone that doesn’t make them less of a wonderful, funny, caring, amazing, beautiful person.
I became a member of SDMB as a direct result of the posts regarding Wally’s accident and death. I wanted to belong to a group that recognized and valued someone like him so much and was so willing to share their feelings about the loss so freely.