RIP Rhian

I just got the news that Rhian R. passed away today, so I’m publishing this instead of a Monday post.

Unlike a lot of my fellow Keith and the Girl fans, Rhian and I weren’t besties, but we were friends. We hung out at Daniel and Victoria’s Uncast parties, and she always had an easy joke, a kind word, or a conversation starter to keep people entertained. I remember her stationed on the couch, smiling and laughing as the party moved around her. She touched a lot of people through her struggle with auto-immune disease. Facebook, and her memorial thread on the Keith and the Girl forums are filled with people crediting her for being there for them when they were at their worst. She was a confidant, a shoulder to cry on, and a cheerleader to everyone who needed it, and she will be missed

It’s a wonder of the Internet that someone can touch the life of so many people so directly without ever meeting more than half of them. I think my friend Daniel said it best in his Facebook post about her:

Today the world lost one of the most honorable, pure and loving souls that ever graced existence. Rhian R. passed away this morning at 8:20 a.m. ET. She left this world just as she lived it, fighting hard to keep going and at the same time comforting everyone around her. For those of us who knew and loved her, no words can properly express just how blessed we were that she chose to grace our lives with her spirit. For those she loved, no one was loved more completely, watched after, doted over, comforted, etc.

I have never known a more selfless person than Rhian. No matter how hard her own life was, she was always thinking of every person in her life and looking after them. She was so open and friendly to everyone. Each time she would come visit us, I knew there would be a few people on her plane that would walk away as new friends. She had her Rhi Army for a million reasons but most of all, it came down to the kind, loving and fun person she was and just how much she has done for all of us.

She has been a huge blessing in my life and I’m a better person for having had her in my life. Word just can’t properly express how much she meant to me and for the last 6+ years, she was a major part of my every single day. It is going to be so hard not to be able to talk with her each night and write back and forth throughout every day as we have.

Still, she lives on in my heart and my soul. My life will be very influenced by the things she taught me through how she treated others. Whenever I get too down on myself, I’ll hear her words of comfort and reassurance. Whenever life gets too hard, I will remember how hard she worked to get through the hardest times. In this and all the memories I have of her, she will be immortal and always with me. My life will never be the same and I will never know anyone like her.

Tá grá agam di, mo dhlúthchara


My friend Arron, Rhi, and me

If you would like to do something in her memory, Daniel and Victoria are taking donations for her family at Uncast.net

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