Niklas' blog

Maria, an old friend, died on Sunday. Her boyfriend woke up at nine in the morning, decided not to wake her up and instead went to make breakfast for their kids. At eleven he checked on her and found she wasn’t breathing. Her body had finally stopped working, following a bout with cancer.

We were friends about 15 years ago, when we were both users at the same BBS. We’ve not really been in touch since I gave up using that old system, but have exchanged digital hellos from time to time. I know her boyfriend as well, and they were really a great couple. Every time I met them together, they just seemed a brilliant match.

I reminisce. One summer when I was about 13-14 years old, two geek peers and I went swimming at a nearby lake and by chance met Maria and her friend Pernilla. We recognised each other from low-res JPEGs posted at the file area at our local BBS and said hi. After all swimming was done, our parties raced home to dial the BBS first and report! Of course I was late. Because those were the days, the BBS was accessed only over a phone line using a modem. The line was busy for a long while, and following a hundred dial-ups I finally got in to see that Maria had been first. Drat.

She was cool. I’ll miss her. My thoughts are with her boyfriend and their children.