A few words from her friends...
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 9:11 pm
The following are just a few of the E-Mails we recieved...
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I know there's no words that would even come close to expressing how I feel or to ever help with your pain but I do want you to know how so sorry I am for your loss. Dawn was a great friend, A true friend, and always there to threaten me with her little "inflictor of pain" device on her key ring if I didn't study and become a good veterinarian. Just two weeks ago she saw a picture of my new cat, heard her story of nearly being euthanized and told me she had "Treya-atude" and that I could name her Treya now and not wait until after her book was published. Little Treya has such special meaning for me now and always will... I do look forward to the copy of her journal. If, by chance, you should find her Adavan story... and you don't mind, I'd love to have a copy of that as well... She was letting me read it (though I haven't been able to recently because of the rash of tests at school) and it would mean a lot to be able to take her story down from my bookshelf and read it just as I would any of my other favorite authors. Maybe I'll be lucky and she'll show me the ending one night when I'm sleeping... I had promised her that I would make sure her animals were taken care of her should anything happen to her and she promised the same to me of my cats. (Our love of our furry children was one of our bonds). Of course, neither one of us thought we'd have to honor that this soon... Your daughter was and always will be a wonderful person to me, and I'm so lucky to have had the chance to know her.
Lynn Tuer, DVM class of 2005, Purdue University, IN
Today began with the knowledge that someone was missing from my life, someone who I didn't know extremely well, but someone who I'd shared many special moments with. My heart aches big after reading your letter, but I am glad that you let me know. I am so sorry to hear about Dawn. Michael and I had spent more time with her in 3D than we have with any other Hero that we met in game. We tore up Reno together and, once it was in shambles, we went back to our hotel room (where we had smuggled Dawn in) and talked until early morning. Michael and I have a fit of giggles about once a month remembering our antics with Dawn that weekend. She was one of a kind. You all must be aching deeply and I know there isn't anything I can say or do to change that. But, please know that I treasured her spirit and will continue to treasure it in it's new form.
Pamela, Everquest and Real Life Friend, California
My name is Angelina Hanley; Dawn would have simply called me Angel. We were in several writers groups together online and roommates at DragonCon in Atlanta. Over the past few years, we had been very close. I will miss, beyond my current comprehension, her invaluable insight as a critiquer and a co-writer. She had an amazing talent ... and was our workshop's best and brightest hope to be the next one published. Because I was the contact point for dragging Dawn into a few groups, as news of this horrible tragedy spreads, I've been getting a great many letters asking what people can do. I know this has got to be an overwhelmingly awful time for you and your family, but I felt the need to write you about something some of us want to do. Another close friend of ours is Megan Morris. Megan runs the company that hosted Dawn's website. We would like to create an addition to Dawn's site that would be a memorial for her. A place for people to go and share memories of her and get in touch with others who are scattered all across the country who were touched by Dawn. It is our intention to maintain the site in perpetuity, keeping the memories of Dawn where everyone can go and visit for a while when we are missing her.
Angelina Hanley, DragonRider's Club
I wish her family all the strength they need to cope with such a tragedy. I knew how much Dawn loved her dogs, especially Strider, and walking them along the beach. And how fiercely protective she was of them. May she and Strider be at peace, wherever they are. I will miss her company online and at DragonCon dearly, and I regret that I won't get a chance now to read the book she was working on. I shared a room with Dawn at DragonCon 2002 and have pictures online at www.osuweb.net/~rosea/dragoncon/ Feel free to share the pics and URL with her family and friends. I know Dawn wouldn't mind. She won the prize for the best Pern costume that year.
Lynn, DragonRider's Club
I am currently denying this is happening and waiting for her to call me with her heroic tale of adventure and survival... I have never had a truer friend in my life and her love and support have helped me to become the person I am and to help me even through this darkest of times. Her light shines in me so strongly, I am grateful for her lifetime of friendship and understanding. From the moment we met, we knew each other to be kindred spirits, soul sisters and truest of friends. That has never wavered and never will. I know she is kicking herself about Return of the King...
Ashley Merritt, Lifelong Friend, Los Angeles
If I had known how much of an angel dawn was running around being, I might have guessed she was almost ready to graduate to heaven! Waiting in line with you all to love her is my distinct honor.
Christine Ziegler, Sister
Dawn and I shared so many adventures together whether on paper or at the beach... I couldn't wait till the holidays were over. She said she wanted to take me to a place called Jade Cove in Big Sur to rock hound on the beach and find treasures. She was excited and so was I. She got a membership to the Monterey Aquarium and she put me on it so we'd always be able to go there when I visited for free. She did love the ocean with all her heart.
Susan E. Bennett, Clinical Nutrition Research, UC Davis
I have known her for last five years - talked on phone, talked daily online, whether it was EQ or on AIM. I feel the same, she will reappear! I will write her parents, make CDS for them and whoever, but I need to go through all I have from her too, lots of duplicates. Please let me know when and where the memorial is, and, if there is a program, I would greatly appreciate a copy of the program or any written piece on her. Living in Missouri, I am so far away. I will write her dad tonight. Dang, cannot stand this, so isolated from CA. Dawn was there for me during my "lump" discovery and biopsy and surgery ? I cannot DO a thing for her or her family from here. If you all were friends of Dawn's, you must be good people, because she was. Dang, she even sent cards to my younger sister when she had congestive heart failure 2 months ago. Still cannot believe it. My heart is breaking.
Barb Schaper, St. Louis EverQuest Friend
We have been friends since I was 10 and she was 12, my oldest and bestest friend of 26 years, there cannot be a world without her can there?? My life is filled with her. My history is filled with her. She and I were truly sisters and having her in the world has made me a better person and my life all the more joyful for her presence in it. I can't stop thinking about her. I know she would smack me upside the head and hug me and tell me that she is always with me, no matter what. My mind can't get around this. I keep remembering us galloping madly over the mountains of Santa Cruz on her two horses, bareback crazy girls, laughing like mad, hands mane entwined and eyes streaming from joy and wind... we knew each other, recognized our sameness the moment we met and we were two odd peas in our own odd pod. I can't remember us ever arguing. We didn't need to! She loved Apollo and I loved Starbuck. She loved Luke and I loved Han. She loved Aragorn and I loved Faramir/Eomer/Legolas...
Ashley Merritt, Lifelong Friend, Los Angeles
I want to let you know how much I enjoyed working with Dawn. For the last couple years I had almost daily contact with her over the phone and through emails, so I too have a big gap in my heart. I feel very fortunate to have met her, and you, Elaine, when I came to Monterey last January. Her beautiful smile will always be with me. Such a sweet grin to go with the 'tehees' that she would sometimes use in her emails. I respected her even more when I saw and heard the two of you interact, and I could see what a great relationship you had. I remember thinking that I hoped I could maintain a relationship like yours with my daughter, as she becomes a young woman. You must have been a wonderful set of parents to raise such a wonderful child. She was so very knowledgeable about her work, so competent, and could explain things so well to me. Since I'm in Florida, she had to spend extra time communicating with me and helping me understand many of the aspects of the job that were unfamiliar to me. She always showed great patience with me, and used her sense of humor to make the job so much more enjoyable. I was working with her, teaching her to use the software that I use, SAS, and she was so quick and bright and showed a wonderful desire to learn new things. Listening to her speak of her interests in science fiction and writing, as well as her love for her dogs, was so rejuvenating for me. Usually 'computer' people don't have the writing talents or desires that she exhibited! I was very interested in her stories about how she trained her dogs, because I also have two dogs that are a major focus of my life. I can truly understand why she would have given her life in hopes of saving her dog in the same way one would do for a child. Another testament to the wonderful person she was. I am sorry that I am unable to be in California for the memorial service to pay tribute to her life. My life has been enriched having been a part of Dawn's.
Lynn T. Jozefczyk, Scoring QA, CTB
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Hugs to you Dawn... Your Dad.