I have debated long and hard on whether or not to start this thread but I honestly think it would benefit all.  Whenever someone passes I find it comforting to tell stories about them and what one remembers about the individual.  So here we go and I will start.

I have much to thank Rich for.  He helped convince Pastami(onlypastrana199) that I wasnt really that scary.  She had discussed with him that she liked me but was afraid to talk to me in one of the previous chatrooms.  I am sure glad that he took the time to talk to her.  And I am very thankful that he saw thru my scariness and had the confidence in me that I was the person I am.  I have experienced so much joy and happiness on his behalf.

I remember that he was always willing to help whoever needed help.  One day last winter when Pastrami's laptop broke.  I im'd him and asked him for help for her.  This was a difficult task because I have little to no idea about technical computer stuff but he still had the patience to try to understand the very crappy info I was relaying to him.

I remember his best of Gstwins thread at the begining of the year and how much time and effort he put into to making nominations and then compiling the results for a very entertaining thread.

I also got a big kick out of his "You might be a gstwins member if" thread.  He always was finding humor in the most mundane and sometimes idiotic tendancies of being a GS'er.

I remember the last conversation I had with on AIM.  I jokingly told him, in reference to the gammer nazi post. that it was "biatch" not "beeyotch"  in which he laughed.  Then I told him how excitied I was to meet him this August when I was going to be in NY.  Sadly I now will never get the chance to meet such an amazing person.

Even without ever having met Rich he affected my life in such a positive way and I am sure that he has done the same for others.  I invite you now to share your memories of Rich here in this thread with the board, Kim, his family, and friends in an effort to celebrate his life and his lovie for all things motorcycle and GS500.

  ^I can't think of much to add to that, so:















































Rich, the pleasure was all ours.

Seeing some pictures Rich took brought some tears.  He definitely was one of the most kindest souls I've ever encountered.  When Pastrami started the thread about the planned gathering at her house, he even took the time to PM me and let me know.  I never met him personally, but definitely was helpful in every way.

I met Rich for the first time last weekend at the NE meet.  I never really talked with him in private before meeting him, but I really enjoyed his company and looked forward to riding with him again.  He was just such a nice guy I think just about anyone could have gotten along well with him.  Even before meeting him I always thought of him as kind of a GSTwins role model, like the kind of person a noob like myself could look up to as a good example of how to behave on a forum and a motorcycle.

It's crazy to think a week ago he and I went out on a 'scouting mission' looking for beer in a strange land, only to ride 10 miles to realize we had no way to carry back as much as a 6-pack, much less a case, so we turned around.  Upon our return to the group when we were asked to report back what we found, we replied "well we didn't get anything, but there's this place, down the road, not sure what it's called, don't really know what the hours are, but there is this place."  Yeah we made for some pretty lousy scouts, but it was a really nice ride nevertheless.

Rich's first PM to me:

Quote from: Phaedrus on August 2nd, 2005 at 12:05pm
Hey, I see your from upstate. How far upstate? I am between Binghamton and Oneonta NY. I make my rounds to different places in the state, sometimes. Just thought I'd say Hi and see where your from up here, since you are the only one I've seen so far from NY that is NOT from NYC!

Shoot me back a PM and let me know whats up 
Rich

One of the things I'm going miss most about Rich were his random IM's. They'd always start with

Hi. This is Rich. Rich Christie from GSTwins.com

and we'd goof off like it was the first time we met every time we spoke. The thing about Rich was that the first time he IM'ed you, it still felt like he'd done it a million times before.  At some point in each conversation he'd ask me if I wanted to go to Denny's. It'd always be at like midnight or some other crazy hour. I never made it to Denny's with Rich. Now I wish I had. I promised him if he came out after the New England Meet when AJ was here I'd buy him Applebee's (his favorite). I keep looking for his screenname to sign on like it used to. Then, at some point when he decided he was tired, he'd say going to bed now night! and sign off before I even had a change to say goodbye. Seems like he did that again...in typical Rich fashion.


I remember all the late nights I spent at Yale with some bizarre computer problem I was trying to fix for some freshman and I'd IM him and ask for help. Or when I was feeling out of place and just needed to talk to someone who knew what it was like to come from where I did, and had a common interest.

He really did convince me to talk to AJ. I was convinced that she hated me and he insisted she did not. He help me get one of the most important, if not the most important, things in my life. Rich convinced me to do alot of things, like pursue computer science, and gave me links to a couple websites to help me find work when things were really tight. Rich was always there if someone needed him. I can't even remember my last conversation with him, something about bleeder jets and then he mentioned something about Kim and signed off.

Rich I'm sorry we didn't get our ride in, but I'm so thankful to have known you in the time that I did. You were a trusted friend and you will be missed. So I finally will say: Goodnight, Rich.

 

Just from his posts, even across a continet... Wow.

I don't think there is anything I can say. I wish he could hear all of us, hear what we all should have said before.

The community, and yes even the world is poorer for not having you.

If words could bring you back we would speak until our voices ran out. If work would do it we would all toil from before sunrise till long after sunset.

But it won't.  I barely knew you, and yet I still cry at your loss, proof you were truly amazing.

excellent post man excellent 

hey all ive got another idea. lets each use one of his pics as our avatars for a while just lemme know if yall are up for it, and if needed ill resize them and find a suitable host

I remember his other avatars of himself.  The "scary" one of him with a beanie on, mouth agape.  And, his "animated" one of him chomping.   

And, this is his favorite emoticon: 

I loved his scary avatars....I loved his sense of humour....

Am I the only one who went when.....his present avatar..... seemed so fitting?? We <3 you, Rich!

Like I've said before,  Im waiting for the punch line to this.  What I mean is, It just seems unreal,  there is no way PHAE is gone. 

I just keep waiting for him to pop up and say "GOTCHA"  to which we would curse him out,  but be glad he's alive.

And I dont mean any disrespect with this,  I really do miss him.  Im just really sad about all this and I guess I'm in denial.

Stages of Grief:
    * Denial (this isn't happening!)
    * Anger (why is this happening?)
    * Bargaining (I promise this, that, or another if Phae really is still alive...)
    * Depression (I don't care anymore)
    * Acceptance (I'm ready for whatever comes)

And/or....

Three types of behavior exhibited by those suffering from grief and loss:

    * Numbness (mechanical functioning and social insulation)
    * Disorganization (intensely painful feelings of loss)
    * Reorganization (re-entry into a more 'normal' social life.)

I was waiting yesterday for someone to come online and say it was all a terrible joke. I was ready to kick someone's butt, but be relieved...if someone would come on and tell us it was a terrible joke. When I first saw the title of the posting that let us know, "We will miss you dearly, Rich(Phaedrus)," I thought I was going to open that posting and see that Phae was tired of our bad senses of humour and occasional *cough* childishness, and that we were going to have to give him a talkin' to so that he'd get his butt back to GSTwin.

It's still unreal that he's gone, but I think I'm realizing that no one's going to come in and tell us that this is some horrible prank. We're all going to grieve, and we're all going to grieve differently, so let yourself grieve in whatever way is best for you. Also, we all go through the different stages of grief in different amounts of time. All of our experiences are going to different, but similar....separate, but shared...

We miss you, Rich. 

I, also, was waiting for him to pop up and get a beating for pulling a horrible joke like that.  While I was at work today, my mind kept wondering back to Phae...  I guess it has sunken in a bit for me.

It will sink in slowly, but you WILL be able to find the joy that Rich brought us. It just takes time. 

I think we're all having that feeling of unreal-ness because this is probably the first time most of us have lost an "internet friend."  We all know that it is possible for someone to play a joke like that, and maybe that aids in the denial that this really happened.  Unfortunately, it is real.  It's sort of odd that we can have these feelings over a total stranger (in the real world to most of you), but it shows how times have changed.  It's 2006 and a whole new way of making friends (the internet) is here to stay.  This is our life. 

I don't check the message board on the weekends.  Shane (Destro) told me about this on when we went riding this weekend.  What a shame.  Such a cool guy.  I'm going to miss him for sure.  It just goes to show that things can change in the blink of an eye.  Sobering.

Some of my favourites.... Rich had a kick@$$ sense of humour!!!

Quote from: Phaedrus on December 03, 2005, 06:08:28 PM
They have bar end weights, footpegs, oil filler caps, etc for the GS. I WOULD just like to point out for PANDY that they have PURPLE pegs, oil filler caps, etc. AND YOU SOLD YOUR GS. SQUID  :lol:  :kiss: Oops, I guess you shoulda waited to find a purple oil filler cap. 

Quote from: Phaedrus on November 04, 2005, 11:51:45 AM
I heard Pandy uses frame sliders instead of the side stand to park the bike. 

Quote from: Phaedrus on April 16, 2006, 02:11:56 PM
Does this smiley remind anyone else of Pandy?

Hahah.

Quote from: Phaedrus on January 19, 2006, 09:10:46 PM
Of course, since I have limited experience with post-whoring, I'll have to have someone else - like Pandy, Makenzie, RVertigo, or any of THOSE OTHER postwhores do the actual write-up.

Because like I said, I don't really know much about it. 

Quote from: Phaedrus on June 27, 2006, 04:35:27 PM
Don't you live in Cali?  If you listen to Pandy, it is nothing but sunny skies, warm weather, and no rain 365 

And how's this for awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..... 

Quote from: Phaedrus on November 05, 2005, 07:58:00 PM
I'd totally give up my GS for a ring like that for my girlfriend. I love her that much