The APFPY Village is populated by a large number of people from all over the world and of all ages and faiths. As in any society, death is a fact of life. So is the grieving which is part of being left behind.

It is easy to say that we do not really know a person we have met only on the Internet. Easy to say, and yet so far from the truth. Communication on the 'net is a "mind to mind" thing. We can share our deepest feelings and our most outrageous thoughts with no fear of seeing the censorious looks and disapproving sniffs we are so used to in real life. Here we often reveal for the first time those deepest parts of our soul, to the surprise of all, including ourselves.

Losing an internet friend is as real as losing any friend.

Ian had met Sharon on the internet and moved across the Atlantic to Fort Worth to marry her. Both were Villagers. As sometimes happens great joy was followed by great sadness and the time came when Skye had to inform us that Sharon had left us. Many Villagers expressed their sorrow and extended their sympathy to Ian.

Ian wrote back, through Skye, saying;

"...when the thread is ended, well, just say thanks from me, and that Sharon passed peacefully at the end, which is good, and will always be here with me, inside my battered old skull and free from any more fear of illness or pain....And that although she didn't post much, she always from the start of the n/group, took a keen interest in the inmates' various doings, and .... well, hell, I'll have to let you edit all that."

Skye's only comment was;

"I'm not about to edit what Ian said. He said it from his heart."

Then Rick found these wonderful words in his heart and shared them with us;

"Threads don't end in here. Topics change, but threads go on.
Just as the people in here change, but the friendships go on.
A lot of posters have come and gone in here, but their memories remain.
It is each and every one of them that make this newsgroup what it is.
And maybe that is what Life is.
Because each of us is made of what memories we have of others.
So no one truly dies, as long as they are remembered.
Death is just a passage to another Place.
A Place that all of us will one day go to.
And there will be those who have gone before us.
Life never ends. It just begins again.
The thread goes on."

This page is a record of the Villagers who are no longer with us and where we can celebrate, in a small way, their lives and achievements.

This is where you will find some of the characters who helped create the atmosphere you now enjoy. This is where the threads go on.