second life sky and clouds, originally uploaded by rafeejewell.
Days have gone by since Delinda Dyrssen passed away. She was very well-known in Second Life's live music scene. A huge supporter of the artists and musicians on the grid, she was generous and non-judgemental. I had the honor of meeting her through the many events at The Pocket. Blurry eyed from lack of sleep, she wrote blogs and helped network the many interests in live music during many time zones. I was so blessed to have met her at a time when I thought no one else felt the way I did about unifying interests and supporting each other.
She shared with me briefly about her illness, but never complained about it. I read between the lines, and I knew she was struggling with a disease that might someday overcome her.
When she died, the outpouring on the grid was incredible. There were meetings about having a memorial service. One in particular was led by Chestnut Rau and drew so many SL celebrities. The gathering was a who's who in Second Life. I learned then that Delinda was not just a music lover but a sailor, too. She had a passion for the water. I knew there was something that connected us.
I have a theory about death here in the virtual world. In the real world, many of us speak of the soul and how our spirit is never gone. Even those who do not believe in a spiritual god, there is still the element of an energy force moving to another level of reality. And, in Second Life, we only know each other as our souls. No gender, just a soul; a person behind the avatar who we know and love. Which brings me back to my theory: Delinda lives here forever. Her soul will remain on this grid in digital packets of data interspersed among all of us who knew her. ~~ Rafee ~~
Chesnut Rau has sent over a schedule for Delinda Dryseen Memorial Celebration:
"A two day
Memorial Celebration of the incredible life of
Delinda Dyrssen will take place this coming weekend,
Saturday 12/18 and Sunday 12/19. There will be live music, comedy, an art auction, a grand sail around Sailor's Cove on Saturday afternoon and tributes to our dear friend. I know several musicians have written songs for Delinda so you can expect to hear beautiful original music over the course of the weekend. The schedule is not entirely finalized so expect some additions and changes.
Saturday 12/18 - Sailors Cove Theater
LM http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fishers%20Island/13/125/23
9:30am Pmann Sands
11:00am Christopher135 Quan
11:30am Astronimus Randt (or Astronimus Galaxy) with Cellandra Zon
12:00 pm PonDman Haalan
12:30 pm Tpenta Vanalten
1:00 pm Remembrance in Voice
2:00pm Remembrance in Words
3:00pm Remembrance Messages
4:30pm Truelie Telling
6:30pm Nesto Silverfall
7:00pm Noma Falta
7:30pm OhMy Kidd
8:00pm Pato Milo
8:30pm Anek Fuchs
OPEN MIC
Sunday 12/19 - The Pocket
LM http://slurl.com/secondlife/Freestar%20Bay%20Isle/229/39/22
9:00am Pilgrim75 Swashbuckler
9:30am Lorin Tone
10:00am Arimo Teixeira
11:00am Frets Nirvana
12:00pm The Follow
12:30pm CraigLyons Writer
1:00pm TwinGhost Ronas
2:00pm Guitar Zane
3:00pm ZeroOne Paz
3:30pm Zak Claxton
4:00pm Phaylen Fairchild
4:30pm Lauren Weyland
5:00pm Maximillion Kleene with Cellandra Zon
5:30pm Wytchwhisper Sadofsky
6:00pm Zachh Cale
6:30pm Ande Foggarty
7:00pm Blues Heron
7:30pm Vaughan Michalak
8:00pm Freestar Tammas
8:30pm Von Johin
9:00pm Moondoggirl Moomintoog
9:30pm Kit Guardian
10:00pm Matthew Perrault
10:30pm RoseDrop Rust
11:00pm ColeMarie Soleil
OPEN MIC
We do expect the sims to be crowded so if you want a quiet place to listen you are welcome to do so at my home http://slurl.com/secondlife/Harbour/194/144/24 or at Crap Mariner's Clocktree Park http://slurl.com/secondlife/Edloe/118/108/28. If anyone else would like to stream the Memorial on their land please let me know.
Enjoy more than 30 art works graciously donated by creative friends of Delinda's for the art auction and you are encouraged to bid generously. The funds will go to KDIGO which is a charity that was near to Delinda's heart. There will be art displayed on both sims so please visit Sailor's Cove and The Pocket to enjoy the works.
One of the goals of the Memorial is to raise awareness about kidney disease and the international database for paired kidney donation that Delinda was promoting when she died so suddenly. KDIGO is a global non-profit foundation dedicated to improving the care and outcomes of kidney disease patients. Please visit the KDIGO webpage and read more about the organization http://www.kdigo.org. If you are interested in learning about how you can give the gift of life by donating one of your kidneys please visit the US National Kidney Registry at their webpage http://www.kidneyregistry.org/.
Delinda's RL family and her SL friends encourage you to consider making a Memorial donation to the The National Kidney Foundation, which is part of KDIGO, in Delinda's name. If you want to make a donation I encourage you to do so via the webpage at this link http://tinyurl.com/2fhn3vw.
If you choose the "Memorial Gift" option Delinda's family will get a note from the Foundation. I can't think of a more lovely tribute than for them to get hundreds of notes so they know how much Delinda was loved."
Many thanks to the volunteers of this event and thank you Chestnut Rau for taking the lead!
Schedule information submitted by Chestnut Rau in behalf of Delinda Dyrssen Memorial Celebration.
Personal notes and editing by raftwet jewell for THE A LIST! blog.
