Goodbye, Stropp
stargrace 
I’m getting to an age now where friends I’ve met online I’ve known for 10, 11, and 12 plus years. They’re friends I talk to on a daily basis, people I care about. When one goes missing or is suddenly quiet, we notice.
In most cases it turns out to be nothing serious. People step away from their online lives. Social media can be overwhelming. Family emergencies crop up.
In other instances, this isn’t the case and that’s how it was with John. I knew John for a long time. We were friends on steam, facebook, twitter, and hung out in the Combat Wombat discord. We talked games. We talked food. Hell we even talked politics. Around the end of September we stopped hearing from him in our discord, and today we learned that he passed away October 6th. I still don’t really know what to make of it, or how to talk about it because it’s not a comfortable situation. I’m sad.
Stropp. John. Your comments, blog posts, conversations, and friendship were felt by many, and you will be missed.
To everyone else – don’t wait until your friends are gone to tell them how much they mean to you. It does not matter if you’ve never met in person, some of the strongest friendships are those types. Be sure your companions know just how important they are.