In Memoriam
Christopher J. Cubic, "Cubey"
aka
Captain Charisma
*****
I know that most of ya'll never knew him or even knew about him, but my best friend, Cubey, was an integral part of the Archive in the beginning. If it had not been for him, the Archive would not be. He encouraged me to start the Archive. He helped me to set it up. He helped me with the initial design, and he gave me encouragement when I thought I was doing a terrible job. He was the first to see the Archive, as a work in progress and finished. On the several occassions when I could not get to a computer to update the Archive, I called him and asked him to do it for me. And he always did, no questions asked.
The world lost an amazing human being last week. He was taken way too soon. He loved cats and Spider-Man, especially Venom. He enjoyed dressing up as characters from different movies for the premiers in his home town. He especially loved dressing up as Hagrad from Harry Potter, and he always dressed as Santa Claus for Christmas. He loved going to comic book conventions, where he had his picture taken with some of his favorite actors, creators, and voice actors, as well as with the numerous people that dressed up as various characters. He also attended Wonder Woman Day in Portland, Oregon every year that it has been celebrated. He loved playing heroclix, and was one of the top players in his state. He was a judge in local heroclix competitions, and he often coached new players--offering them advice and ideas on strategies. He was always there when his friends needed him, whether it was to listen as they told him about their happiness or whether it was to listen and comfort them as they cried.
He was the greatest friend I have ever known. I told him everything--including my deepest, darkest secrets. He critiqued all of my poetry, short stories, fanfics, and research papers. He was there when I needed him, and even when I didn't need him. He listened patiently as I poured my heart out. He was the light in the darkness that surrounded me. He was the rope that pulled me out the bottom of the pit I fell into one too many times. We spoke several times every day. He texted, IMed, and e-mailed me every day. He sent me pictures of his cats, and he sent me pictures of him all dressed up before his dates.
As I sit here typing this, I am waiting on my phone to beep, letting me know that he has sent me a new text. I'm waiting on his IM or a funny e-mail. As I sit here, I am wondering what I am supposed to do with my day. He was such an integral part of my life. We were planning on going to Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia this coming Labor Day weekend. I bought his ticket for his birthday last year. He called and told me when he got his ticket in the mail and told me he had put it in his "Heroclix Misc." drawer so it would not get lost. I had been looking forward to going to Dragon*Con this year, simply because we would be able to hang out again. We always had so much fun at past Dragon*Cons.
I miss him terribly.
