In Memoriam, Report / Reflect on Significant Passings, be they people, objects, and Options

[Decrepit]

I take the liberty of creating this topic, which existed on the Bethesda.net forum, for the reporting of passings/departures of significance to us.

I begin, fittingly enough, with the Bethesda.net forums themselves. I visited there just before returning here to create this topic. The Community Forum no longer allows postings/replies. That's new since I last visited there earlier today. The end draws nigh.

Also, an ending looms ever nearer in another field I have a special interest in, the Silent Film era. I have been following a Wiki list of surviving silent film actors for years, possibly decades. I've watched that list slowly but steadily decline, as actor after actor passed. It's down to three individuals now. All were, of course, child actors during the silent era. Two are brothers from a large, long-lived family. Seven or eight of them remained on the list for quite some time. The third was an extra in a number of Our Gang (later called Little Rascals) silent era shorts. Her sister, who passed long ago, was an Our Gang lead at the time. Ages range from 92 to 97. There are a few older actors still with us, but they began their careers later in life, thus made no silents.

[Decrepit]

Though already mentioned elsewhere, I again report the passing, early last week, of my aunt, age 96, the last of our clan of her generation. She and her husband, who lived to be 91, were among the best people I've known, real "salt of the earth" folk. (We had little to do with the rest of the clan, for reasons it is not my place to divulge.) My brother and I attended the visitation, service, and burial yesterday, 17 Feb 2024. A three-plus hour drive each way, in freezing temps! We also attended an after-burial clan get-together/lunch, held at what has been, from as far back as I can remember up until now, my aunt and uncle's home. I've many fond memories of visits there during my youth. It somehow seemed much larger back then. My cousin, their son, a playmate of mine back in the day, now looking every inch the elder citizen, says they'd like to keep the home in the family . . . if possible.

Attendance at all these events was noticeably less than at my uncle's burial some years back, which is to be expected with the older generations of our clan fading away at an ever-increasing rate. I myself was in doubt of being able to attend up until the last minute, due to a nasty lung-related ailment I've suffered from off and on since a few days before Christmas last.