One Year Ago We Lost a Friend....

A year ago I learned via an anonymous comment left on the DI Dads Speak Out blog that a friend I only knew from on-line correspondence, Moondance Max, had passed away. It had been expected as Max has been sick for some time. But was no less shocking when the day finally arrived.

Max was a man who found out that he could not have children naturally and turned to donor insemination with his wonderful wife Vee. They later found out Max had cancer and I am not remembering the timing which came first but also that Vee was pregnant. They now have a beautiful son from the pictures I have seen.

Vee had chronicled their struggle to conceive through her blog "The Sweet Life" and later their life together addressing Max's illness and the birth of their son. The blog is now privately published. Together they published many great videos to the International Infertility Film Festival dealing with their infertility struggles which will continue to offer hope to others dealing with infertility.

Some of us get caught up in our own lives and lose touch with friends we make over the Internet. I am guilty of that here. Max was a special person and I regret letting his friendship slip away. He wrote a couple of blogs while here, one of which as his persona Dynamo Dad, in the Diaries of a Hopeful Dad to Be.

[Note: Parts of this blog post were part of the initial post I published last year on hearing of Max's passing. I offer this post as a reminder of a friend who will always be worth remembering.]

Thinking of Max - Dynamo Dad

For some reason this evening I began thinking of Max and Vee. As a result I posted on my facebook page a drawing Max used as his profile picture on the above blog. Below that profile picture I stated the following:

"I wanted to say here now that I remember you Max and am proud that I knew you. Your wife and son were lucky to have you."

The thread that followed on facebook included the additional statements I posted:

"I met Max online after my own kids were borne but empathized with his and his wife's journey through infertility. They both blogged about the journey. Max's blog and reactions to it eventually led him to stop posting and when he got sick it was certainly not his focus. His wife Vee is a special lady as she went from the pains of infertility to watching her husband become sick and see that sickness destroy his body but rarely his spirit. They live across the planet from me but I wish I could have visited him before he left this place. I did not always agree with every position he took, nor he of me, but he was someone I will always remember and respect."

"I met Max at a time when I was much more active in the online blogging world discussing... a topic with real world consequences. He was one third of three blogs written by myself and one other friend dealing with donor conception all from a married heterosexuals men's perspective when few men would even think of even acknowledging a connection to the issue. I admired Max's spirit and belief that public recognition was not only needed but proactive conversation was required. Something I truly believed in and encouraged. Max was one of the men who followed me into that discussion."

Again I was thinking of Max today and wanted to let others know it.