Message From Uccie









Friends and Family in Second Life,

An October weekend filled with Guinness and Jameson's led to my birth in Galway, Ireland nine months later on June 16, 1988, or so I'm told. My father was on assignment there for the US Navy when he met (and presumably, had s*x with) my birth mother. As things go, he didn't know that until she travelled to America to present him with me and an ultimatum: Take the girl child as a baby cramped her style. His wife was less than thrilled, but the literal red-headed step-child was brought into the home.

Most people, including me, did not know I wasn't her child as we both had carrot-red hair, freckles, and a fierce attitude. When my father died I was nearly 10 years old and she told me of my bastardy and her youngest son that I was his to raise. Spoiler alert: We later reconciled and I was her care giver for the last 12 years of her life. But not being able to see that future led me to do stupid things and also to the first time I died.

Some of you know the long story, but what's important is that this brother saved my life, though at the cost of me being able to speak and an inability to cope with a number of instantly blooming phobias. He damaged his teaching career by moving up in grade each year so I was always in his classroom at least once a day to be my safety net. He was my knight in shining armour, keeping me safe and loved.

In my Senior year, my shrink introduced me to Second Life. My fear of people, especially men, and a fear of leaving the house needed to be fixed. She felt that I could socialize virtually, picking up some personal and life skills. The Teen Grid also let me work out .... let's just say there's a reason I fled on my 18th birthday and started a fresh account on the Main Grid. CC Columbo, my Real Life brother who raised me and joined SL the month before, met me at Waterhead and took me to his land in Nangrim. There he gave me $L100, 16 square meters of land to call my own, and then took me to the Isle of Lesbos. The rest, as the trite say, is history.

At Lesbos I met my soon-to-be sister, Threshin. She helped me become a strong (if wilful) and confident woman over the subsequent years. Always encouraging and loving, I learned that I didn't need to cling to my brother. I also met my wife, Angela, there. Marriages in SL are real, if you let them be so.

I'm also proud to say I was a citizen of Bay City, the BEST community in Second Life. So many close friends, especially Marianne, Pygar, Rachel, Roc, and the eternal Ever Dreamscape. This was truly the life I did not have growing up. And grow up I did. The strength I gained from being accepted into the city and becoming a contributor (the year I was Miss Bay City was the best year in any of my lives) led to me becoming a productive citizen in Real Life. Getting a job, paying taxes, and becoming responsible for others. Just like a real person!

It wasn't easy, but learning from my Bay City friends and people like Kennylex, my darling sistress Zen, Crap, Anthony & Mo, Vick, KinZiki, Torley, Michael (King of the Moles!), Kaelin, Doc, Loki, all the Moles & Lindens, Claudia222, Cubey, Elvira, Draxtor, Gammy, Kaikou, Honour, Fenix, Shep, GoSpeed, Iris, Miss Jane, Shaman, Parker, Serenity, Owl, Nikokito, Sylvia, Washu, Mr & Mrs Hooker ... cripes, I wish I could remember everyone right now ... helped make me into the person I am now.

Then there was the addiction. A surgery that CC almost didn't survive made me snap. I had trouble separating Real Life from Second Life. I wanted to escape, not knowing I'd survive without him. All my passwords were changed. My blog, Flickr, and any ties I had to the virtual world ... a real world unto itself, mind you, had to be cut. Every non-essential app was taken off my phone and parental controls activated. Back on the heavy meds and into therapy again. But got strong again and found that there are many things one can do in Meatspace. I even got to be CC's boss at the (not so secret) government facility we work at!

Then there was the B-side. Most likely it was from someone at work that CC, his girlfriend, I picked up the COVID-19 virus (along with who knows how many others), learning of this only after we were told to stay home (with pay!) and to wash our hands. Fever, cough, no sense of taste or smell ... I was tested. A few days later I'm here in the hospital with an iPad and a teddy bear and I don't think this is going to be good.

If this doesn't get sent out, you will never know. If you are reading this, please help CC cope. He's had enough loss. His father (mine, too), his daughter, and his grandparents all died the same year I first died. He's had enough. We had a good 20 or so years after that, sure, but ...

/me hands you an impossibly large box.

Take my Love. I have plenty for all of you. Perhaps I'll see you all on the Big Grid and we can swap stories. I hear there's no Grid goo and the Feed there works. Until then, there's so much I haven't done. Go out and do it for me.

Caitlin (AKA: Uccie, Zyx, and Xandah)
20 April 2020

(editor) In hospital Caitlin passed away Tuesday evening April 21 2020 with her brother by her side. (CC was also diagnosed with Covid-19 without showing symptoms therefore he could be with her)
Writer Uccie Blue Galway
Editor Vick Forcella
Images Uccie Blue Galway
200424

17 comments:

  1. Those of us here at the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives are grateful to have known Uccello for her occasional pop-ins, extended visits, and for being an Ivory Tower Guide-- so readily assisting those residents in need of help whenever she could. This is small bit of her I knew. Now I am unspeakably sad.

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  2. I am very grateful that Uccie was part of my world and feel very lucky to have had a Second Life which included the joy she gave.
    I will miss her always.
    Hugs little one.

    Honour McMillan

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  3. Thank you, Uccie.
    I will carry some of that love with me, always grateful that our paths crossed. <3

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  4. Kind souls travel faster, hope to catch with you on the afterlife at some point in the future.

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  5. One day, I was tending my garden in Bay City when, out of the blue, Uccie IMd me to ask if she could interview me for the BC Post. We laughed and laughed through that interview. I will miss that fiery yet gentle spirit and look forward to laughing with her again.

    Thank you Uccie for bringing joy to so many. I'm so grateful to have met you.

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  6. I'm ashamed to say I didn't really know Uccie, but I'm aware of how much a part of Bay City (and Second Life) she has been. To her family and friends - physical and virtual - I offer sincere condolences at this time.

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  7. My sincerest condolences to all those who knew them.

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  8. I'm saddened to hear of Uccie's passing. She made the world, whichever one, better for being in it.

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  9. I was blessed to call you my friend. The Big Grid has no idea what its in for! Rest in Peace my dear neighbor.

    Roc

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  10. I first met Uccie one day in Bay City - Dennis. A group of us were standing around on a vacant lot, perhaps watching a Giant Snails race. Uccie was wearing a tiny avatar shaped like a hand, and I thought what a unique and interesting person she must be. Little did I know how many more unique things I'd see Uccie over the following years, or just how interesting she really was. She was one of a kind, lived SL to the fullest, and will be greatly missed. I'm glad I had her in my SL as a neighbor and my friend. Farewell, Miss Bay City.

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  11. Blue, bold, and brazen; that is how I will remember Uccie. We were not close friends, but she treated me as if I was. Her spontaneity brought life to Bay City and she will be sorely missed by us all.
    I am confident we will meet again in the great grid in the sky, be it Heaven or Simvie Loko.
    God Bless you Uccie.

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  12. I was so shocked to learn of Uccie's passing. I first "met" her in the old SL Forum, and then kept up through various things like the Feed, her wonderful blog, her Flickr. We came together over One Billion Rising. She was so warm and funny, so blue (in a good way) and such a promoter of Topless Tuesday. SL is just a little smaller without her. Her friends and family are in my thoughts. One last virtual hug to Uccie.
    --Seicher Rae

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  13. I know a few of her friends, and there sadness has my heart broken. God please Bless her in Heaven and know she's loved by a lot of people.

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  14. Rest in peace Uccie. You are a gentle soul and I am sure you will find plenty to do in the great gig in the sky.

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