Somberly, I’m thinking about “Tuesday’s Gone” by Lynyrd Skynrd:

Train roll on many miles from my home,
See, I’m riding my blues away.
Tuesday, you see, she had to be free
But somehow I’ve got to carry on.

On Sunday December 2, Marc Orchant had a massive heart attack and fell into a coma. Marc fought to return to consciousness for a week, with many bloggers, family and friends praying he would, while local Seattle blogger meetup organizer Anita Rowland had been fighting cancer for years. Marc passed away on Sunday December 9 and last night Anita passed away, Monday December 10.

I’d never had the privilege to meet Marc in person, who hailed from New Mexico, but we had a number of conversations through this wonderful thing we call the internet. He left comments at this blog and would reply when you talked to him through Twitter with direct messages. I think he did that because he wanted to make sure people knew he saw and cared that they were trying to converse with him. That shows the type of good guy Marc was with relative strangers, so it doesn’t surprise me that he was loved by those who were closer to him.

His last message to me was on Saturday, less than 12 hours before his heart attack, a response to his post that he was leaving Facebook over the Beacon issue. For a couple days after his heart attack this post remained atop my Twitter direct message stream:

Truly believed he’d come out of the coma and be loving, laughing and geeking with us here again. Marc died at 50. I’m sure Marc is up there somewhere, if such a glorious place exists enjoying a lifetime of neverending gadget launches and “calling it like he sees it.” Rest in peace.

Anita Rowland, meetup organizer extraordinaire
I did have the privilege of meeting Anita Rowland and her husband Jack William Bell several times in person. The last time I saw Anita was at a conference in Vancouver BC. She called my name and I turned, surprised and smiled. It was then that I learned she had cancer and was trying to beat it back. I’d kept her in my thoughts and was always glad to “see” her online from time to time reminding me that cancer doesn’t always win.

Also saw her several times at various blogger meetups here in Seattle that she organized, although I haven’t attended many event since 2005. Anita was always a friendly and gracious host at these events and her smile was warm and inviting. You can see her standing just above Jake from 8bit Joystick in the picture below wearing a white shirt. This was from one of several Seattle weblogger meetup’s I attended in 2005.

Anita would leave comments here from time to time as well and the last thing she did was add me as a Twitter friend. The date? Same day of Marc Orchant’s message above: Saturday, December 1, 2007. Probably just a coincidence how both my final interactions with these two good people who passed away involved Twitter, but it’s one of those details I can’t completely shake from my brain this morning.

Jack William Bell posted a heartfelt memorial post for his wife:

Some people shine so brightly they light the way for others; Anita was such a person. Having that light snuffed out so soon is a loss to the world.

To the guy I jammed alongside with at the first Mind Camp, Jack, I’m sorry for your loss. Please know I’m keeping you in my thoughts.

{{{{family and friends of Marc and Anita}}}} Now, time to go hug my family. Do you hear the wind? Tuesday may not be gone as I write or as you read this, but sure feels that way. And the lights are dimmer in life on earth with these two kind, giving souls gone.

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