When We've Said Goodbye

UPDATE:
I am so grateful that we have this lovely new blog to call home. Those of us here were drawn together by rascal and by notingDavid. My vision is that we continue some of the basic tenets of that beloved blog.

There are plenty of happy-talk sites out there, we don't need to duplicate that. My hope is that we can include the full human experience as we discuss all things David. My hope is that we can include the mind and spirit and body, not pushing anything away or leaving anything out. My hope is that we can be both courageous and respectful. Let the conversation continue!!

We all love David, that is taken for granted. But where would we be without Rascal and notingDavid?

The most obvious thing that Rascal has done is to provide a range of opinions and critiques of all things David. He inspired us to carefully craft our opinions and offered an open door to anyone who criticized the ideas rather than the person. Hopefully his strong and independent voice will return soon. Rascal – please know that we all think of you fondly!

But less obvious is that without Rascal, we wouldn't have a community. Under his gentle and sometimes firm leadership a group of us have slowly built up trust and e-friendships. After reading months of comments, personalities emerge and you feel like you know each other. We've shared our stories, from the sublime to the painful to the lighthearted. Hearts were opened and support generously given. Tennis balls were lobbed. It's all been whacky and wonderful and a delightful soap opera that rarely failed to entertain.

These e-friendships have in many cases progressed to attending concerts and dinners together. Close friendships are developing. The upcoming tour will find an explosion of these connections.

This community has given us the opportunity to share our talents of writing or art or videos or gathering fast-breaking news. Some among us have created gifts for the community – Caseydog's Timeline, Hello Gorgeous' All Things David, and FSteven's artwork are some examples. These gifts have been given back to the community without thought of compensation. There is so much passionate, selfless creation going on here, it is quite beautiful to witness.

Creating community was perhaps a mere byproduct of Rascal's passion for David, but it has become a precious gift that he has left us. Of course Rascal is the main player in the group and he will be sorely missed. His eloquence and wit cannot be matched here. I respect his decision to rest his site, but I can only hope that he will be refreshed and ready to return before long.

We have chosen to continue this lovely community. It will be different, and we will probably have some bumps along the way. But I am committed to help keep this little group together and to nurturing it until Rascal returns. This community has taken a long time to put together. It's not going away anytime soon.

My school community moved to a new school several years ago. Everyone was excited but anxious. I wrote a new song for the occasion that starts out, "Here are my friends, here is my school." We sang it at the old school and then we sang it at the new school. This helped to reassure the children that this new situation was going to be okay.

Silverfox's prayer was posted on the last night of notingDavid and the first night of the new temporary site. I'm sure I was not the only one who found this reassuring.

Community nurtures our soul.

You might want to visit April 24, Think of Me: Studio Version
http://www.notingdavid.org/2008/04/