Hi all,
It is with indescribable sadness that I write to you on behalf of the admin and moderator team today. To be honest, I'd hoped to write this yesterday and just couldn't find the words- I'm still struggling with it now, really.
Craig 'Gooseman' Gulledge passed away on March 17. We don't know any details at this time beyond a brief Facebook post from his wife, and really the details aren't important- the person we lost is. Craig was a member of the moderator staff here for several years, and in that role was a boundless source of wisdom and... well, moderation, dumb as that sounds, and his absence will be sorely missed in that regard.
It's the man himself though that we'll really be missing. Craig was a pillar of the Battletech community, and in that role is how I and so many others here on the forums came to know him. What appeared at a glance to be a larger-than-life, foreboding giant was in fact one of the kindest, wisest, and clever people one could ever hope to meet, and as with so many of you it was a pleasure to get to know him away from gaming as well as being a part of that aspect of his life. We met at a couple of conventions, and I know he was at many that I didn't make it to- it's likely that many of you have had the pleasure of joining him at a gaming table (or bar afterwards!) during an Origins or GenCon, and we should all feel lucky to have had our lives enriched in such a way. Many are the stories of a large, braided-beard man making it his personal mission at a convention to make sure everyone was drinking enough water, for example. (He had a fixation on that, more than a few people have a good bottle-of-water story about him, myself included!)
Craig meant a lot to me outside of gaming- on a personal level, he was instrumental in helping me through some very difficult times several years ago. It's very odd to literally feel like you owe your life to someone, but if not for his stepping in when he did I'm not sure how things would have gone for me at that point. We have a wonderful community, gamers in-general and Battletech in particular, and he embodied the best of us in that regard- he dropped everything to reach out to someone half a continent away, no questions asked, and I'm forever grateful for it.
I know this post is very jumbled and nonsensical, and honestly that's kind of how my head is right now about all this. I'm incredibly sad to have lost one of my absolute favorite people in this world, Battletech fan or not. And at the same time, I know that he touched so many lives here, enriched us with his very being. To lose someone like this is beyond words- to have had him in our lives in the first place is equally indescribable.
I'll leave you with this. During my tough stretch years ago, Craig made it clear that he didn't want me to repay his kindness to him- what he wanted was, and I quote, to "pay it forward, and be as good of a person to someone else someday". I'm not half the good soul that he was, but those are good words to live by. If you, like me, really want to remember Craig Gulledge the way he deserves, step out and do something good for someone else today. Do it again tomorrow. Live the way he did- with no limits on how much you're willing to give of yourself to make the people around you happier.
Godspeed, brother. You're dearly missed.
Brian 'JadeHellbringer' Bunch
