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I remember watching the movie Ghost in 1990. It was one of those movies you watch because your girlfriend wants you to watch it, not because it's anywhere close to your idea of what makes sense to you as a modern day male to watch.
Two years before, I created this site we all know as Seahawks.NET. Back then, my aspirations for the site was little more than hoping I could sustain a website that could hold 10 or more fans in the forum.
Within one year we had over 100 Seahawks fans. Coming to my little website? It seemed absurd.
I couldn't understand how my little website mattered to more than me. Within one year I realized it did matter to more than just me.
Never in my wildest imaginations could I have foreseen a communion of community that has transpired from that day I started this site. Never.
Never.
But along the way, magic happened. Amazing human beings showed up. We all had one common theme: Our love for this embattled, broken, joke of a team called the Seattle Seahawks. The entire nation looked at us as some kind of joke. As in, "The Seahawks?? Are they really an NFL team???"
This mindset enamored our community all the more.
This site was born from the passion and belief that one day we would be rewarded for our loyalty.
And then one day, I was shown that it wasn't the game that mattered as much as the human beings that made this place so special. Les appeared.
At first I didn't know what to think of him. He seemed almost too engaged. I figured this was a guy who had no life. He attached himself to our community so quickly I just kind of ignored him at first.
Within a year I realized he wasn't going away. I was impressed with his tenacity. It was around this time that I began to understand that he wasn't just a fly-by-night. He was here for the long haul.
And boy was he ever.
Les entrenched himself from that moment forward as a sort of father, no, grandfather figure for the site. From that moment forward he elected himself Granpa of .NET whether he realized it or not. The deed was done and it was the right deed, indeed.
Let me be clear, open and honest here. There were times Les and I didn't see eye-to-eye. Sometimes I thought he was overbearing. Sometimes I thought he was being too harsh with his role as moderator. Eventually we came to terms and we moved on. What I never understood back then was just how much this community meant to him and how much it may have hurt his heart whenever I threatened any kind of repercussions for his actions, warranted or not.
I never quite understood just how much my little website mattered to others back then.
Les was a rock star. He brought such life and love to everyone he touched. I used to think that my legacy was creating a website that could bring Seahawks fans together.
How short-sighted of me.
My legacy, as it turns out, at least I hope, was building a community that could demonstrate the power of love to each other. When one of our own passes, it becomes obvious, the love that follows. When Les passed suddenly, we were all shocked. The sincere outpouring of love underscores the the connection we all felt. His passing hurt our collective hearts.
I am a big believer in the afterlife. I believe when we die we leave our bodies and laugh. Almost like we remember the contract we had with God all along. I also believe that while you can't bring your cars, homes and other material items with you, you very much can bring the love in your life with you.
In my world, Les brings the love home with him. It's the only thing that matters. Every word, every sentence of sincerity about Les' passing becomes all the more energy that Les can take with him. I think somewhere, somehow, Les can feel our love and our thoughts. Those things you take with you.
In your final moments, I promise, it's not the car, the house, the material object, it's love. Love for family and friends and maybe yes, the Seahawks.
In that regard, Les left the earth a very rich man. It's the one thing he could leave this earth with. Love.
I remember watching the movie Ghost in 1990. It was one of those movies you watch because your girlfriend wants you to watch it, not because it's anywhere close to your idea of what makes sense to you as a modern day male to watch.
Two years before, I created this site we all know as Seahawks.NET. Back then, my aspirations for the site was little more than hoping I could sustain a website that could hold 10 or more fans in the forum.
Within one year we had over 100 Seahawks fans. Coming to my little website? It seemed absurd.
I couldn't understand how my little website mattered to more than me. Within one year I realized it did matter to more than just me.
Never in my wildest imaginations could I have foreseen a communion of community that has transpired from that day I started this site. Never.
Never.
But along the way, magic happened. Amazing human beings showed up. We all had one common theme: Our love for this embattled, broken, joke of a team called the Seattle Seahawks. The entire nation looked at us as some kind of joke. As in, "The Seahawks?? Are they really an NFL team???"
This mindset enamored our community all the more.
This site was born from the passion and belief that one day we would be rewarded for our loyalty.
And then one day, I was shown that it wasn't the game that mattered as much as the human beings that made this place so special. Les appeared.
At first I didn't know what to think of him. He seemed almost too engaged. I figured this was a guy who had no life. He attached himself to our community so quickly I just kind of ignored him at first.
Within a year I realized he wasn't going away. I was impressed with his tenacity. It was around this time that I began to understand that he wasn't just a fly-by-night. He was here for the long haul.
And boy was he ever.
Les entrenched himself from that moment forward as a sort of father, no, grandfather figure for the site. From that moment forward he elected himself Granpa of .NET whether he realized it or not. The deed was done and it was the right deed, indeed.
Let me be clear, open and honest here. There were times Les and I didn't see eye-to-eye. Sometimes I thought he was overbearing. Sometimes I thought he was being too harsh with his role as moderator. Eventually we came to terms and we moved on. What I never understood back then was just how much this community meant to him and how much it may have hurt his heart whenever I threatened any kind of repercussions for his actions, warranted or not.
I never quite understood just how much my little website mattered to others back then.
Les was a rock star. He brought such life and love to everyone he touched. I used to think that my legacy was creating a website that could bring Seahawks fans together.
How short-sighted of me.
My legacy, as it turns out, at least I hope, was building a community that could demonstrate the power of love to each other. When one of our own passes, it becomes obvious, the love that follows. When Les passed suddenly, we were all shocked. The sincere outpouring of love underscores the the connection we all felt. His passing hurt our collective hearts.
I am a big believer in the afterlife. I believe when we die we leave our bodies and laugh. Almost like we remember the contract we had with God all along. I also believe that while you can't bring your cars, homes and other material items with you, you very much can bring the love in your life with you.
In my world, Les brings the love home with him. It's the only thing that matters. Every word, every sentence of sincerity about Les' passing becomes all the more energy that Les can take with him. I think somewhere, somehow, Les can feel our love and our thoughts. Those things you take with you.
In your final moments, I promise, it's not the car, the house, the material object, it's love. Love for family and friends and maybe yes, the Seahawks.
In that regard, Les left the earth a very rich man. It's the one thing he could leave this earth with. Love.
