Below you will find a post I prepped for the Madison D&D Discord. In addition to a more permanent home, this felt like it belonged with the other posts in this blog. So I offer it here:
I have written and re-written this several times. I tried to consider including it in Thursday announcements. I wasn’t there yet. Those of you who are attendees of Gamehole Con, Gary Con and the former Cold Iron Conventions may have had the opportunity to play games with Joe Irizarry and his wife Gloria. If you attended the Extra Life Charity Event in Franklin this past weekend, you may have been at his table running the super-long Out of the Abyss T3 module. For those of us that knew him, and for those who didn’t have the chance to game with him, I am left to inform the community that Joe passed away on Monday. He spent his last day doing what he loved – gaming and supporting charities. This has left a ripple in his family, his Milwaukee gaming community and the Regional Gaming Community by extention.
In times like these I am reminded of the 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction when Laurie Anderson spoke of Lou Reed. “They say you die three times. The first is when your heart stops. The second is when you are buried or cremated. And the final is the last time someone says your name.” I would extend that to include the last time someone tells or reads one of your stories, listens to your music, or enjoys one of your creations. And in this I will include two stories of Joe that I think encapsulate who he is.
At Gary Con, while dealing with the loss of another in our community, we had a charity auction going on at the HQ desk in the AL Hall. We had a really large ampersand coffee mug as an item in the auction. It could hold a full venti drink from Starbucks and you could only get it if given one by Wizards of the Coast. I remember Joe coming up to the desk and asking if I could let him know if he was outbid on it because Gloria was eyeing up the mug. I told him that it would be wrong of me to do so, and it would also be wrong of me to suggest that his DM wouldn’t mind him getting up at the end of his turns in combat because there were other people looking at the mug. I also didn’t tell him that if he had not won the auction for the mug that I had one for myself that I was willing to give him because I too was brought up to value family. Even though I can’t drink coffee any more, that makes the value of that mug stronger to me.
And the other was this past October at Gamehole Con. Due to my own health issues this past year, I had decided to “stop and smell the roses.” Which meant it was the first year I attended any parties at the convention. So I made my way to the Wednesday night reception. Joe and Gloria were there with their locals and he invited me to sit with them. It may have been a small gesture, but to me, in that time, it meant a lot. It reminded me why I do conventions. And more than smelling the roses, it reminded me to consider the people I do these conventions for. To value them, especially those that value you.
And to end this, I work my way around to rock & roll again. Specifically the song Steeple by Halestorm (the inspiration for at least one module and NPC in the Border Kingdoms).
“This is my kingdom, this is my cathedral
This is my castle and these are my people
This is my armor, this is my anchor
It’s been a long road outta Hell up to the steeple
For this is my church, and these are my people”
Welcome to my church, you are my people. Value each other.