Goodbye Gralin

[Mithalwen]

I am glad you have bumped this up, I always meant to post here but I tarried - partly because I fell into the "once bitten, twice shy category" and partly because (with no disrespect to Precioussss intended) I really hoped this was another hoax. Then the moment passed.

I was aware of Gralin as someone bright and funny but I did not really know her, so moved by the unmitigated tragedy of her death, I read through a lot of her posts. Most of these are to be found in the Quiz and Mirth forums but not all.

Three I would like to draw your attention to:

Firstly Gralin in her own words.

Secondly What Tolkien meant to her.

Thirdly Her farewell.

Reading these increased my sadness but it also increased my admiration. She had clearly had difficulties in her life before her fatal illness, yet the experience had not embittered her - Gralin assigned nothing to Mordor. Even if she wasn't referring to her diagnosis in the third post - almost her last, it is almost unbearably poignant. She has haunted my thoughts a great deal in the past months and is highly effective in giving a true sense of perspective. While I now pay her a belated tribute, I will try to always remember her joie de vivre and complete lack of self-pity. Therefore I will not say goodbye.