Dear family of Bev,
I'm posting here a message I sent to the GPDD listserv on Friday, February 19. I get the GPDD messages in Digest form, and hadn't gotten any for a couple of days, but had an uneasy feeling, so searched for the messages online. Here's my post:
We get the GPDD in Digest form, so hadn't gotten any news about Alge. But about an hour ago, I got a sharp sense of foreboding, and felt that I needed to know something about how she was doing. I went to the GPDD site (something I never do), in the hope of reassurance.
I organized the February archive by date, started looking towards the bottom, and then...my heart just about stopped.
I could no longer see the screen, the tears were coming so fast.
How can it be that such a big heart, a heart that was a friend to all of us and to all of our piggies, has been stilled? How can such a thing happen?
We have lost someone very precious and dear to us all. Alyssa and her movies have lost their biggest fan and their staunchest supporter.
Alge was a wonderful friend. She emailed us (especially Alyssa) all the time, for many years. We knew she was chronically ill and, from time to time, she made reference to her ailments (for one thing, she was waiting for a lung transplant), but she rarely dwelled on such topics. No, it was all about the piggies, and she was always complimenting Alyssa on her movie, Carrot Wars. To me, it was wonderful that Alge was so encouraging to my daughter, a young person, and cheering her on from day to day. I still have the email that Alge sent when G-Force first came out:
Hello Alyssa!!!
I miss emailing you but there never seems to be time. As for G-Force, I'm certain that they're plagiarizing Carrot Wars or that, at least, it was their inspiration! Delighted that GP's are getting some attention these days. For the longest time, I believe that Carrot Wars was the only US made movie about GPs.
"We stand on the shoulders of those who've gone before us!!"
Alge and the Piggy Pirate Crew
It's amazing, the power of this listserv. Peter Gurney was a personal friend of mine, and I would never have met him and gotten to know him, if Alyssa and I hadn't subscribed to the GPDD. And then, there was Alge.
Although she'd lived an extremely interesting life filled with adventures, her world had gotten much smaller in the past several years, as her health situation worsened. Her beloved guinea pigs (first, the Jolly Rodents and then Cap'n Jack Sparrow and Barnacle Bill) helped fill the hole in her life, and so did her friends on the GPDD.
There are no words to describe the terrible emptiness I feel. For those of us on the GPDD who counted on Alge to show up and give us her very humane, very compassionate, very creative "take" on every issue concerning guinea pigs, it is like we have lost a family member.
There is no greater honor that we can give Alge now than to carry on her love of guinea pigs, and her basic human decency. It is such a blessing that her piggies are going to a good home. I'm sure that it was so hard for Alge to leave them, loving them as much as she did.
There are really no words to say what we are all feeling right now. This is indeed an irony, since our dear friend Alge was so good with words.
One thing we know: Alge is now at peace. And my fondest hope is that she is now reunited with her darling Jolly Rodents.
Love and WHEEEEEEEEEEEPS,
Nancy (& Alyssa, who is grief-stricken, too)
http://www.carrotwars.com
Sunday, February 21, 2010
There is one more thing about Bev (we knew her on the listserv as Alge) that I need to post: My daughter Alyssa (whom Alge continually sent supportive and encouraging emails to, anyway) was in a serious car accident a few years ago, when she had just started college. She was severely injured, and needed major surgery. She was in great pain for a long time, as it took ages (and lots of Physical Therapy, etc.) for her to recover. Bev was like a guardian angel to her at that time, sending her special goodies through the postal mail and helping see her through this dark time. We owe Bev a huge debt. Not only did she always applaud Alyssa's creativity and promote the sales of Alyssa's videos whenever she could, but she also ministered to her when she was badly hurt, and very much in need of a friend.
Alge, we will always love you, and I know that Alyssa will always think of you as her special Guardian Angel.
No comments:
Post a Comment