and in sunshine the waters are sleeping

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

I was pulled out of my stunned reverie at that, several of us were, and we watched in a dull sort of horror as someone who hadn't seen the notices found out, all at once, that Sumie Kawashima had passed.

She wanted to be told we were kidding. She wanted to be told that it was all a jest, even at her expense, even a group of people she didn't know, had never met.

We quietly told her, it was no jest, it was the truth of the situation, and she ported off in a panic. One would assume to contact Sumie, who was her Mentor on the grid.

One can only imagine how heartbreaking wanting, needing to be told we were in error, and finding out we were not, would be.

Will be.

I only know that I will miss her, and the next several days are going to hurt a great deal. She was the bright, energetic spark in my life, even though we generally flew in elliptical orbits. She was so devoted to Caledon, so in love with the land, that the first thing she did after recovering from a three-week coma was to ask for her laptop, so she could get in world and tell everyone she was okay.

At first her doctors would only let her on for brief periods of time; her injuries were severe beyond the coma. But she perservered, in spite of everything, and that was one of her strongest personality traits.

Enduring. Persisting. Fighting. Surviving. And keeping hope alive in spite of it all.

The notice that Duchess Gabrielle sent out earlier this evening:

Sumie Kawashima passed away in RL Friday evening, Dec 12 of complications from a bone infection. Sumie's rezday was Aug 13, 2007, & she became a Caledon resident soon thereafter. A designer, builder, and test pilot of various aircraft, she founded Kawashima Aero. Sumie was a Group Captain in the Royal Caledon Air Force, head of the Risen Demons, and demon-protectress of the Tamrannoch Sanitorium. Her friends will sorely miss her. Memorial service will be announced at a later date. Boing boing, Sumie.

I'm still too close to say more than that, and more than what I said at the informal gathering tonight at the Fallen Anvil: God, I'm going to miss her.

Miss Aether Inglewood gives her perspective, and a strong, healing one it is.

Magdalena Kamenev sums it up for those who didn't know her, and nicely so, indeed.

Requiescat in pace, Sumie. You will be missed.

Fly high, my friend.