followsthewolf

[Palehorse]

I don't remember the first time I encountered him or exchanged posts with him, likely due to the fact that it happened so long ago that my "processor " has long since lost track of such minutia.  Of course it could very well be attributed to the fact that I've been cramming stuff into that same processor for 55 years now too. Probably both.
But whenever it was that I first encountered "followsthewolf" I do recall it didn't take me very long to figure out that he and I were pretty close to the same wavelength on a lot of things; including his sense of humor.  He could make me belly laugh quicker than most right out of the gate, and he never lost that ability through all the years I posted with him.

Clearly a lot of us have discovered things about the "real" followsthewolf over the last 24 hours or so that we never actually knew about him; at least not from his keyboard anyway. But one thing that doesn't surprise me in what has been revealed is that none of it is a surprise to anyone if you really think about it.

Walt may have been his given name but it just doesn't hold the meaning to me that followsthewolf does; and over the years we spent posting together within this forum and a few others, I came to make a lot of assumptions about the man that at the end of the day were not that far off from the man he was outside of cyber-space.

I, like most of you, never got to speak to the man, shake his hand, or even speak an audible syllable to him , but somehow his words managed to convey to me the man he truly was over all these years. The way he would take a fellow poster to task when it was needed, or provide encouragement, congratulations, support; and always knew just what to say, and how to say it, to bridge the gaps between each one of us when it was needed.

He could turn the holocaust into humor without offending a Rabbi if he so chose, and have that Rabbi laughing with him before the exchange was over.  Or he could cut you as deeply as a bullwhip on bare skin with just a word or two if the topic moved him to do so. And the whole while he never really said much about his personal life within the forums, with the exception of his occasional anecdotes that he always provided as an exclamation point to whatever lesson he was trying to impart; and there were plenty of those.

Most times he wasn't a long winded poster, but his life experiences, education, training, and deep seated common sense armed him with an innate ability to get what needed saying said with a modicum of keystrokes. And that I respected unendingly.

That's not to say he didn't have to capability to bury you with "light reading" if he deemed it worth the time, and necessary to impart the lesson. And he was great at providing some highly accredited sources to support his view-points. Anyone who won a debate with followsthewolf earned that win; and his support. Whether he agreed with the conclusions or not was of no consequence to him; it was the work to get there that mattered the most.  "Do it right, or don't do it at all". He held respect for anyone who did their level best to do things right.

There were a lot of topics upon which he and I saw things along similar lines, and among them was religion.  I've not had time to go back and review his postings, but it is high on my list of things to do in the coming days.  (I love the topic Henry started on the "Best of followsthe wolf", and it has already brought several smiles to my face this day. It also makes me hungry for more.)  Moreover, seeing how he and I are human, there were also some subjects where we disagreed as well; but I can tell you that our discussions of them ended very well. In fact so well it is hard for me to recall any of them. He could have that effect on a person, and usually did at least with me.

One thing I am envious of, (and in this case it is not just him but in fact anyone that crosses over), is the fact that he now knows with absolute certainty "what is next". He knows who is right, who is wrong, and just how many of us are so far off into the deep weeds on things that it is astounding; and how little of it all any of us have that is even close to being within the same universe as the truth.  And he's laughing his ass off over it too.

He knows who killed the Kennedy's and whether or not it actually amounts to anything more useful than toilet paper in the grand scheme of things. (I bet it doesn't).  And if it does he's wringing whatever appendage takes the place of our hands in the hereafter, and trying to figure out a way to tell somebody.

He's breathing easy this day and he is not hurting; at least not in the way human life looks at it anyway. But somehow I know that within a spiritual sense there is still pain; the pain of separation from those beings with whom you place your love and trust within this life. And if nothing else one only needs to look to his screen name to realize that he was on some level a spiritual person.  (I recall somewhere he and I having a conversation on the meaning of his screen name, and as I recall it was indeed the spiritual aspect of the wolf within Native American tradition. "Unali" as Bo D so aptly put it. That one made him smile brother; you can take that to the bank.)

I already posted about how he, (and others here), was instrumental in helping me obtain perspective within my recent health scare, so I won't go into that here. Last night I was horrified at receiving the news of his passing, and so emotional over it I couldn't really post anything that would have made much sense. I was too busy trying to come to terms with the news, so instead I re-read his messages to me from this past January; just under 3 months before his death.  Those messages are typical followsthe wolf; encouraging, supportive, and taking this comparatively young whippersnapper to task. And they brought the tears I had been fighting off for hours to reality. . .

I won't share them with anyone because above all, I cherish the trust his actions placed within me; just as I do with all who honor me with such a level of trust. But in thinking about that last night, I asked myself a question; How does one get to such a high level within a strictly cyberspace "relationship", as to elicit such an emotional response from someone at another's passing?

I've been posting with many of you on here for over a decade and yet I have personally met just a small handful of you. Some I have actually spoken to over the phone, but never personally met. But the lion's share of you are within the category that followsthewolf is in, wherein the sum total of our "relationship" equates to nothing but posting of thoughts and conversations on a forum in cyberspace. (And the occasional picture or two).

And yet here I am, authoring an over 1600 word post about a man I never met before, and doing it because I actually WANT to! There were times in my life when a school assignment of 500 words on any topic would have sent me into panic fever, but yet here I am writing this about a man I never even met.

And the reality is that as this has gone, so it will go for a lot of you should this sad and painful process ever be repeated. And at some level that scares the hell out of me for it demonstrates, tangibly, just how much power we all possess over one another through nothing more than words and an investment of some time and a monthly broadband bill.

A man I knew and spent a lot of time conversing with in cyberspace just became a part of cyberspace for all I know; but the reality of it all is that the gift each of us takes for granted each time we log on here and begin running our cyber-lives via our words, holds a greater power than any of us realize.

The ability to share our thoughts, our lives, our opinions. To offer support, words of encouragement, advice, experience. To cheer each other on, or share in life's numerous milestones.  Or we can choose to use it to alienate ourselves from everyone and everything that we know , to drive dissention among the masses and herd things toward chaos and anarchy.  These and more are within our grasp each and every time we place fingers to keyboard.

I've invested a lot of time in this genre and made a lot of friends I have never met because of it. Some of those friends mean a lot more to me than I thought and few even more than that. (You know who you are). 

I paraphrase but I will close with this:

There are two wolves fighting for our soul within us; one is good and one is evil. Which one wins? The one you feed.

Followsthewolf fed the good one every day. Even on his last day on this earth, he was here in this forum to feed that good wolf. And even to the last he remained loyal to each one of us who frequent this place. Teaching us to the very last. . . And beyond it would seem.

RIP Brother – Until we meet again on the other side.

[Henry Hawk]

Perfect...

[libby]

I don't know what to say, Palehorse, except that I read every word and  ....

thought provoking.

[Henry Hawk]

I spent some time last night and this morning, going through more of his posts.......many of the one's that he and I exchanged in.

We did not see eye to eye on several issues, but he always respected me, and I respected the heck out of him.  He and I used to follow up with one another with PM's to make sure we we "good".

He (along with some others on here) are the reasons WHY I choose to stay here and take some abuse....he always had a way of allowing his humor shine through his remarks......He often reminded me NOT to take him TOO serious.  I'm not going to fool anyone in saying that I ever WON a debate with him, but I could go "toe to toe" with him.......becasue HE allowed me too. 

Man, I am going to miss him.....

[duke jupiter]

If me memory serves me correctly me and Ole' FTW bantered a little bit on another forum in the past and one thing Ole' Duke realized quick was FTW was much smarter than meself (hard to believe  )  Heck I would try to get him down to my level and beat him with me vast experience but he was much to smart for that. I have much respect for him and his unique and practical views on life.


Best regards,
Duke (immense respect) Jupiter

[Locutus]

I found a duplicate obituary on another newspaper site that contained a picture of our online friend.  The text was identical to the one posted by the admin, but this one contained a picture.  I don't really know why I'm posting this.  Perhaps it's just to help me to better know the one who made me laugh and smile over the years in this sort of online "coffee shop" that we've all contributed to creating.  I hope he wouldn't mind me doing this; after all, he requested no services.  I'm sure if he's mad about it, he'll find a way to reach out from beyond the pale and haunt my ass as payback. 

Our collective online friend Walt Mullen (a.k.a. followsthewolf):



May you rest in peace.

[Palehorse]

I found a duplicate obituary on another newspaper site that contained a picture of our online friend.  The text was identical to the one posted by the admin, but this one contained a picture.  I don't really know why I'm posting this.  Perhaps it's just to help me to better know the one who made me laugh and smile over the years in this sort of online "coffee shop" that we've all contributed to creating.  I hope he wouldn't mind me doing this; after all, he requested no services.  I'm sure if he's mad about it, he'll find a way to reach out from beyond the pale and haunt my ass as payback. 

Our collective online friend Walt Mullen (a.k.a. followsthewolf):



May you rest in peace.

Thanks for posting this Locutus. It actually helps. (Me anyway).

Nice to have a face to go with the individual I posted with for years. . . 

[Locutus]

Thanks PH. 

[Palehorse]

He hasn't been off my mind since we got the news, and one of the things that was driving me a bit bonkers was not having a face to go with the name. Now I do and it helps.

[Locutus]

Yeah, I think about him every time I log in.

[Henry Hawk]

It does make it nice to see his face....I also read somewhere, that he was 6'5" and 250lbs.  A big man with a big heart and sense of humor.

[libby]

I found a duplicate obituary on another newspaper site that contained a picture of our online friend.  The text was identical to the one posted by the admin, but this one contained a picture.  I don't really know why I'm posting this.  Perhaps it's just to help me to better know the one who made me laugh and smile over the years in this sort of online "coffee shop" that we've all contributed to creating.  I hope he wouldn't mind me doing this; after all, he requested no services.  I'm sure if he's mad about it, he'll find a way to reach out from beyond the pale and haunt my ass as payback. 

Our collective online friend Walt Mullen (a.k.a. followsthewolf):



May you rest in peace.

Locutus, thank you for posting that picture of Wolf. Everything I knew about him came from 'reading him' on the old Hey Martha Bluefield forum and here, but I had imagined him as looking very much like the picture. I wish I had posted the following before he left us:

'The New York Times for September 29, 1954, reports that Dr. Paul C. Aebersold, director of the isotopes division of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, stated in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institute: "Tracer studies show that the atomic turnover in our bodies is quite rapid and complete. ... In a year approximately 98 percent of the atoms in us now will be replaced by other atoms we take in our air, food, and drink." In fifty three weeks, then, the turnover will be complete. Thus a man of seventy-five has had at least seventy new brains and bodies, and this naturally raises significant questions for physiology and psychology: Where are the memories of a lifetime stored?  How is the sense of individual identity preserved through these numerous :re-embodiments:?'

-- Reincarnation
Compiled and edited by Joseph Head and S. L. Cranston

[Admin2]

We will be removing the sticky from this topic at some point on Tuesday since everyone has had a chance to see it and post.  The thread will remain available on this board for reference or for additional comment if anyone so chooses.

[Palehorse]

A good friend here recently pointed something out to me that I found some measure of comfort in surrounding our loss of FTW.

It seems that back in March, when FTW publicly let us all know he was sick, a number of us stepped forward to offer our thoughts, hopes, and in some cases prayers, to him over his situation. I was among them and yet one of the things that has haunted me since the news broke was the feeling I never got to say anything to him that I felt needed saying.

But then when I read the posts following his post about his condition, I discovered I had indeed said many of the things I have been wishing I had said to him. I just didn't remember doing so!

I'm posting the link here in case some of you are dealing with the same issue(S).

http://theunknownzone.dailynuisanceproductions.com/index.php?topic=18665.msg469776#msg469776

I for one am very glad this was pointed out to me. If you note the date on his post about his condition, it was just about 6 weeks later that he crossed over. 

[libby]

A good friend here recently pointed something out to me that I found some measure of comfort in surrounding our loss of FTW.

It seems that back in March, when FTW publicly let us all know he was sick, a number of us stepped forward to offer our thoughts, hopes, and in some cases prayers, to him over his situation. I was among them and yet one of the things that has haunted me since the news broke was the feeling I never got to say anything to him that I felt needed saying.

But then when I read the posts following his post about his condition, I discovered I had indeed said many of the things I have been wishing I had said to him. I just didn't remember doing so!

I'm posting the link here in case some of you are dealing with the same issue(S).

http://theunknownzone.dailynuisanceproductions.com/index.php?topic=18665.msg469776#msg469776

I for one am very glad this was pointed out to me. If you note the date on his post about his condition, it was just about 6 weeks later that he crossed over. 

Thanks for posting the link, Palehorse. I think our shock at losing him made us realize how much we get to know and understand and care about people we post with on forums like this. As for me, people I know in 'real life' would probably not recognize me here -- for being Libby brought out a part of me that even I did not know.