Guys, I have some sad news to share.

My heart is breaking. I, too, was fortunate to have called her my friend.

This is such heartbreaking news, I can’t bear it. Thanks for letting us know @ANef_is_Enuf.
Please pass on my condolences to her daughters.

Devastated

I am at a loss for words, this hits close to my heart. Such a caring and wonderful woman, and smart and funny.

I’m in shock. This will take time for me to process. She was such a smart and giving friend to this community and to me personally. Pass on my love to her girls if you can.

I am so, so saddened to hear this. I’ve not been active on this site for a long time, but Lisa was one of my favourite people that I’ve never met. She helped me through a lot of tough times with just a heart emoji or a “Love you, girlie”. She’ll be missed.

Lisa was the heart and soul of Fluther. This is heartbreaking news, and the end of an era.

I’m at a loss for words too. My condolences to her family.

I’m speechless. This is so tragic.

Devastated…..., I have no words.
I send my heartfelt condolences to the people that (you) love (you).

Does anyone know how to get a hold of the founders and let them know?

I am still so shocked. Lisa meant so much to me although we never met face to face, it’s hard to put into words how important that friendship has been in my life. She wasn’t that much older than me, but in some ways she was more like a mom to me than my own mother and was one of the first people I always thought to turn to when life was kicking me down. She was warm and loving and compassionate to a rare degree, a truly special person. You don’t find a heart like that every day. I am going to miss her so much.

What? No! No.

She would follow up with me via pm months/years later and still have a genuine concern and recollection about things I had been going through. What a great empathetic caring person.

Do we know what happened? Didn’t she make the occasional appearance here recently?

Yes, it was unexpected, I’m told she passed in her sleep from a heart attack. Hopefully, that means it was quick and without pain.

This is devastating news! Lisa/Augie was one of the kindest and smartest here. I will pray for her and her loved ones.
I can’t imagine Fluther without her.

@Judi I contacted Ben.

This is heartbreaking. I don’t come around here much anymore – but I’m so glad you all are still here, and it hurts so much that she is not. Lisa had such a huge capacity for caring about people. It was amazing to watch and to be fortunate enough to be a small participant in, and she gave me hope that people were truly kind when I was living in a place where people did not show much kindness.

Very sorry to hear this. :(

This is so sad and tragic. For many years, Lisa was the heart and soul of this site. Very sorry for for all of her family and friends. May her memory be a blessing.

It’s been a very long time since I visited Fluther but this sad news made me want to stop by, if only for sentimental reasons.

I’m so sad by this news as Lisa was a wonderful, positive presence in my online life (sadly I never got to meet her in person).

Oh Captain, my Captain!
I am still reeling from this news, as I am sure many of us are, but I thought I should share this.
Most of us never met Lisa.
We knew her through the internet.
She impacted our lives through her kindness, intelligence and understanding by way of the web, which has become a tool of divisiveness, hate, and cruelty.
We should all take a moment and reflect on this. We can have positive impacts on the world by our civility here.
Be like Lisa.

Oh no. That feels like a personal loss. I don’t know what to say.

I’m shocked by this. She posted here just a few days ago. I will remember her for her common sense and kindness.

I am numb. My mind keeps saying this just isn’t possible. She was young. She was my friend. I admired and respected her so much. I wanted to be like her. I tried to be more like her.

Give her girls,her family, our heartfelt condolences. What a horrible shock it must have been for them.

I always thought that I’d see you again….

Just speechless !

I am sitting here, ripping a seam out of a set of curtians I got at Goodwill thinking about Auggie. I pulled out the vertical blinds on a sliding glass door and was looking for suggestions for some good verticle blinds to replace them and Lisa was adamant about NO BLINDS! She said I had to have curtains instead! Yes Ma’am! Curtains it is!
So I’m working on these curtains that were her idea and crying so hard I have to keep stopping to get myself together.

We will always love you Augustlan

I’m at a loss. I’m a very closed off person, but somehow she snuck in and made a real impact on my life. She was one of the best people I have ever known. This is truly a sadness.

For once I can’t think of the right words to express myself. When I got the PM about this it was like hearing a family member died. I was completely unprepared for this horrific news and absolutely floored. Back when Fluther was a young site I had a constant presence here. I remember when Lisa first joined. We hit it off from the beginning. She was far and away my favorite jelly and we used to PM quite often. In fact I’m the one who first started referring to her as Auggie (and often times Auggie Doggie). Lisa was just the most caring person and so very precious to me and so many others. She lived with such constant pain but seemed to care about others and any pain in their life more than her own. She was truly an amazing person. I feel so awful for everyone she has touched and most especially feel sorry for Maddie and the family. I can’t really think anymore. So I’ll just leave it here.

Beyond sad. We wouldn’t have a site without Lisa. She was thoughtful, eager, compassionate, and loving.

She was a part of our family, and we mourn her loss.

So sorry, such a loss.

What an awful start to the year! What a shock. I won’t say anything more beause words are weak in such tragic moments. May her loved ones be filled with the courage needed to handle this indescribably hard loss. As for Lisa….. may she sleep in eternal peace. We truly never know what the next monent may bring.
Farewell sweet lady and thank you for dedication and valuable contribution. Go well dear friend.

I remember Lisa said more than once that she had wanted 6 kids, but had to stop at 3 because her pregnancies were so hard on her body. I wonder if she knew that she was mom to so many more than that. I hope I can be the kind of mom to my kids that she was to all of us.

When she was new to fluther and I didn’t know her at all, I said something shitty and condescending to her. I don’t even remember what it was, I just remember that it wasn’t nice. She didn’t get defensive or insulted. She just said something like, oh cool, thanks, I always love learning something new! Her kindness and warmth humbled me then and many times after.

I hope she knew how many people’s lives she made an impression on. She was such a special person and I am grateful to have known her. My heart goes out to her family. I’ll remember her always.

A few people messaged me this morning to tell me about her passing. I’m in a state of shock. I don’t want to believe it.

I remember when she found me on Facebook about 12 years ago. She said one of her stand out memories of me was we were in-between classes and some guy said something mean to her, and I said, “don’t listen to him he’s an asshole.” LOL. She said it made her able to just blow it off. I don’t remember it, but I’m glad I said it.

Eventually, she turned me into fluther, and here I am.

She had been in a lot of pain recently, and very tired. I think with her other illnesses it might have been hard for her to know if there was something gravely wrong that needed immediate attention. I don’t know if this could have been prevented or not. I try to tell myself her suffering is over, but she still seemed to have great joy in her life with her children, and watching them become amazing women.

I posted that she passed away on our high school Facebook group, and so many people are saying very nice things. This is our class’ second loss in just a few weeks time. We are all 51. Too young.

That is sad news, all I can say is that things felt better when she was manager here, you felt in safe & fair hands, we truly did have (special) staff for that…RIP kind lady.

I’m sorry for everyone’s loss, this leaves a very big hole.

She was an amazing friend and mentor.

We didn’t get to meet up on the International Jelly Quest because she was sick and I hadn’t spoken to her much recently, but loved to watch her be so proud of her daughters on facebook.

She had such an influence on my formative years when I was active here as a teenager, and she also taught me how to moderate.

I’ll miss her a lot.

I am shocked and saddened to hear this. Lisa was wise beyond words. No one could navigate a difficult situation like her. And when she gave you advice, it was the kind you would find yourself returning to years later even in completely different circumstances. We are all poorer for her loss.

This is terrible news. Lisa was one of the first two people to greet me warmly when I joined more than 10 years ago, after brusque responses to my first question almost turned me away.

I appreciated her kindness and fair-mindedness. I trusted her to make just application of community guidelines and standards more than I would have trusted myself.

She was also a good friend offsite and felt like someone I could talk to in very difficult times.

My heartfelt condolences to M, J, & L. She was so proud of you.

She was proud of Fluther, too, and helped us all be a better community. Thanks to Ben and Andrew for having the wisdom to appoint her and keep her with us for as long as possible. I wish it could have been forever.

I’m devastated, Lisa was the heart and soul of Fluther for a very long time. I’ve tried to compose an eloquent note about ten times and I’m at a loss. Rest In Peace Lisa, you will be missed. My thoughts are with her husband and girls.

Lisa made fluther.com a place where I felt at home. A tragic loss to so many who loved her.

Here’s something we can all enjoy: http://blog.fluther.com/why-auggie-is-both-happy-and-sad/ The piece even has a photo of our sweet Auggie.

So many old-school Jellies, seldom seen or heard on the boards these days, are stopping by to honor Lisa. This is a special tribute to a special lady.

This is heartbreaking news.

Devastated.

Some fine tributes in this thread of just ten years ago, including one of @Harp’s superlative verses.

Wow. I will miss her.

Lisa. What a mensch.

I’ll see you in heaven if I make the list.

I am trying hard to get past the kick in the gut. We communicated not long ago. Completely unexpected. I have nothing eloquent to say and she deserves so much more than this weak post. Godspeed Lisa.

I’m very sad to hear this.

I haven’t been here in so long, but I kept in touch with Lisa via Facebook. I forgot she was Augustland. She was a very dear person (edit autocorrect)

Can I just say how lovely it is to see so many old Jelly faces here on this sad, sad occasion? We have been quite a community.

^ Lisa would have been so happy to see everyone.

I just got a message that she had passed suddenly. It was like a kick in the gut. I know she hadn’t been feeling well for a while. But I don’t think she thought she was deathly ill.

Isn’t it nice when you come across a soul on this earth who, even though you never met in person, you connect to? You laugh with them. Cry with them….

She was a funny, caring, compassionate, supportive, and intelligent friend.

My heart breaks for her kids. They are about the same age as my kids. It’s so hard losing your mother at a young age.

Like many others, I’m wordless, speechless. Just devastated.

Auggie also helped me through a dark time as well.

I was impressed with how she could be gentle and firm at the same time while keeping her humor about her no matter what. She was the kind of person you could talk with online but, in actuality, feel like you were in the same room sharing a tea or coffee. You could see her smile, see the twinkle in her eye, and the warmth of her hand patting yours from a distance. That was a gift.

Sending love and hugs to all of you.

And tooling around this site for the first time in a LONG time…what do I see? The second to last PM was from Lisa. She said, “Nice to see you back. I missed you!” :`(

@linguaphile I know, right?

Oh no. I am floored.
Lisa was so kind and caring. She was one of the first to greet me here and helped me along the way.
This is so sad… She will be sorely missed.

She worked hard here, and helped shape this site. She was loved and will be missed. Goodbye, @Auggie.

When I first arrived, with my previous identity, it was just before she announced she was leaving for new employment.
I never got to know her the way so many did.
I remember the panic, and the pleas for her to visit when she could.
*silent reflection
*
*
*
I remember feeling my arrival was ill timed, and that I had missed the best the site had to offer.
Apparently I was right.

I was excited to see she was visiting again lately.
Wherever she is, I hope it is free, carefree, fat free, trouble free, and beautiful.
I didn’t know her at all, and I feel robbed. She obviously was much loved, and apparently deserving of every accolade.
My heart goes out to her family, friends, and fans.

For those of you who didn’t know, she had a blog.. Not only was she wise and compassionate, she was strong. Very strong.

Oh no! Auggie, Lisa, friend.

After Ben and Andrew stepped back from Fluther, had Lisa not become Community Manager, I suspect we would not be here right now.

Ben and Andrew May have birthed Fluther, but Lisa god damn raised us. We owe her an enormous debt.

I’ve been sitting here thinking about our online lives and how we impact other people. I remember a time when “society” denigrated people who would connect online. I’m old enough to remember when computers first became a thing. And I remember when someone tried to explain the Internet to me. Yahoo! Groups were a massive thing. That led me to a computer fixing site. When Google became a thing I searched for the answer to a running problem I had and that led me here. And I was welcomed with a lot of humour and intelligence. This community felt different from any other online group I had participated in. That was largely due to Lisa, Gail, JLeslie et al. (I have to say I started stressing out about spelling as soon as I started typing lols)

And that gets me to people we meet online. I’m an introvert so the Internet was basically made for me. Here I get to communicate with other people in ways that would burn me out IRL. Lisa was a rare person. Someone you can legit look up to.

I’ve been fighting cancer for over a year (currently No Evidence of Disease). Lisa followed my treatment and my ups and downs and always had a kind word for me.

Online friends MATTER.

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@cookieman…you nailed it perfectly. Exactly.

I’ve been pretty numb all day. Lisa had talked about her symptoms and if I remember right at one point was diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I had another friend with Elhers-Danlos Syndrome and her symptoms sounded exactly the same. She brought it up with her doctor, was tested and finally got the appropriate diagnosis.
This evening I messaged my other friend about Lisa and the flood gates finally opened. Now I can’t stop crying. It blows my mind that one person could mean so much to so many people. We were all so blessed to know her. She had such a way of making each of us feel like we were special. I want to be like Lisa. I miss her so already.

She had a habit of absolutely destroying me on Words with Friends. I mean she DESTROYED me. And I speak English real good. The game that I have going right now with her it’s 371–192. She was wicked smart.

Here is an article someone posted about the loss of an online friend.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/well/family/how-to-grieve-online-friends-you-never-met-in-person.html

@Caravanfan Me too. I consider myself a good scrabble player, but against her forget it.

WTF

This is going to take some time to process.

When she found out I had cancer she sent me a hoodie. A hoodie I have worn everyday since it is the only one I have with a zipper in the front so it doesn’t mess with the feeding tube.. Just WTF.

@johnpowell It’s so sad, the one who supported you against your illness is the one ended up gone instead…

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words here, and thanks as well to everyone who has reached out to me or my sisters personally. We really appreciate it – it’s beautiful to see that she was so loved. Please know that so many of you meant so, so much to her.

@Caravanfan Lisa often destroyed me at WWF, but I could beat her by a couple points. I knew I was having a good streak if I won one out of three games against her.

I aspired to play competitively against her.

My lifetime record against her is 39 – 80. I am leading our current game 237 – 184, and a win will bring me to a 1 to 2 ratio. I will resign this game, knowing she played at a level just out of my reach.

We are all so sorry for your loss @Fly. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, but she was so many things to so many people. All of them genuine and inspirational. Your mom was a good egg and a fabulous Jelly.

In the last 7 years, since I’ve been playing WWF, I beat her two times. Two whole times, and that was only recently. I never felt so proud as I did on those two games.
I have two games outstanding now. Both show the last time she played was last Wednesday, 4 days ago. That cuts like a knife.

Oh @Fly yes. I can’t even imagine what you and your dad and sisters must be going through. She was an amazing, amazing woman. ♥♥♥♥♥

i have no words. i’ll miss you lisa. say hi to gail for me.

Hi everyone – Just popping in to express my condolences to the community and to the Universe. When I first joined in 2007, Augie was instantly welcoming and friendly. To me, she WAS Fluther, more so than Gail, more so than the founders even. She was like the backbone. Her moderation was fair and not authoritarian. We remained friends and now I’m so sad about this news. She was a great person and she will be missed by so many. I know she’s cracking her whip up in the sky, looking down on us all!

Formerly jca

Hi @jca2 , so glad you stopped by. I miss you, and think about you and some of the other folks all the time. I know Auggie would have been pleased that so many of you have come over to pay your respects.

I’m heartbroken. I keep thinking about what she wrote here mere weeks ago, on the hypothetical topic of her own death. ;_;

She was one of the kindest and strongest souls I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I really wish the world weren’t so unfair. She deserved a much longer life with so much less suffering. This world is so much darker without her.

My deepest condolences to @Fly, @mangeons, and @laineybug, her three daughters.

Oh wow @Mariah! Thank you for directing us there. I’m so so sad she never got to quit working and focus to the things that were most important to her

The feelings you experience when you are grieving some times make no sense. The last time Lisa and I talked we discussed my curtains. I have been busting my butt ever since to get the wall ready for Auggie’s curtains. I couldn’t wait to show her the finished product…which is going to be even better than I hoped for, I think.
Yesterday, after I got the news, I could not find the second curtain panel. I knew I bought two, not just one at Goodwill, but I could NOT find it anywhere. I tore the house apart looking for it, wondering if I was losing my mind. Rick helped. Inside I was sobbing and crying, “I have to find that curtain! Auggie likes them and I have to find it!!”
I’m desperately trying to remember a specific time I saw them both at the same time. Rick said he didn’t remember 2 curtains.
Today I found it. I spent 20 minutes just clutching it and crying.
My mind is still refusing to accept this.

Oh @Mariah. I had forgotten about that…..

Lisa was just such a sweet and smart person. I’m shocked at how suddenly this has happened and I’m saddened for all those who knew her well. I hope her transition was peaceful. We were connected on Facebook and it was a nice part of my day to see her posts, especially the ones about how proud she was of her girls! I’ll miss her.

@Fly, my deepest condolences to you and your family.

@Fly My thoughts are with you and your sisters. I’m so sorry for your loss.

@Judi, don’t feel bad. If I recall correctly, and I think I do because we corresponded about it a lot (she was entering my field), she was thrilled to get that job after so long without work. It was pretty much on her own terms, because she could do it at home and in her own hours. So I think she was lamenting her physical limitations but not her employment.

Fuck, this is hard.

It is astonishing the impact internet friends can have on a person’s life. Before I started hanging out on social networking sites like Wis.dm, and now here, I wouldn’t have believed it. There is such a richness about it all that is really hard to find IRL.
I would have never met Auggie if it wasn’t for Fluther, and that is inconceivable to me now.

Very sorry to have read about this.

Something made me click on Meta for no reason. Now I know why. Damn it!

When I saw the post on Facebook it took my breath away. She was a brilliant and strong woman. We had so many great exchanges. This is hard to grasp. Just. So. Hard.

I’m finding myself wrecked by this news. I’ve been thinking about Lisa’s life and because of the Flutherl she was able to touch people around the world. Her legacy will not just be her three girls, but the wisdom and caring she shared with so many people. As long as there are jellies, Auggie will live on.

I wish I had thought to ask her this before, but it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t have the chance. I want to ask her how she stayed so even, how her temper never flared. What kind of steps did she take or thoughts did she think? I want to be like that.

Lisa was a lovely and strong woman and great friend to me. Like others, I felt her amazing capacity for caring—for me it began long ago at a time when my outlook on life was perennially dark. It was a great feeling to reconnect with her in the last year or two after a many-year hiatus from this site. She satisfied my curiosity about fluther dynamics and happenings over the years and gave me closure about lingering questions I had. We also became WWF buddies, and it astonished me that she had a 10,000 (recently 11,000) word vocabulary. Mine grew from 5,000 to 6,000 just through playing her. But, she still had to play her best (she won 40% of our games), and I know she enjoyed the competition. Lisa educated me about EDS and was for me an example of strength in spite of frequently debilitating illness. Good mom that she was, she also shared with me her love for her daughters and wish for their happiness.

Farewell, sweet @augustlan. You are loved.

This is from cruiser:

“Lisa’s fair and balanced modding was one of the reasons I kept coming back to Fluther…she was a good person and now joins Gail, Addy, Winston and other great jellies who are in that mansion in the sky”

So sad

I found this for Lisa. The services will be private.

This is incredibly sad. I’m not as active on this site in terms of communicating with other people but I really liked her answers and thought she was brilliant. I’m sorry to everyone she was close to. Rest in Peace.

You know, I hope truly that this doesn’t offend anyone, or come off as insensitive, but this mixed with that post that @Mariah linked kind of made me realize something.
We really do honestly need to live each day to our fullest, like it’s our last. Look at what she posted, on a thread that was asking what we would do differently if we knew when/how we would die.
Anyone who posted on that thread (even if you didn’t, anyone reading this at all), don’t wait to do those things. Live your life now, as if you already knew when/how you are going to die, as dark as that is.
I’m signing off for now, my PMs are open if I can be of any help at all.

Lisa was the first person to send me a message of support when I joined in December of 2008. I was struggling with something very difficult and she was very kind and supportive. She was always very kind and supportive. We became Facebook friends and shared so much with each other for almost 10 years. My eldest sons and her three daughters were very close in age. We shared their joys and tribulations during a most precious time.

I missed out on the past two years of her life and it kills me. I’ve been hurting terribly for two years. It finally became easier for me to deal with and now this. The pain has returned.

This is the impact she has had. When you lose such an amazing person in your life it takes years to get over it. Heck, it takes a lifetime.

If there are angels, Lisa is undoubtedly going to be wearing wings to complement her whip. I haven’t been in touch with Lisa recently and I wish I had been. Life has just been too busy and we haven’t touched base. I wish I had found the time. She is someone I care deeply about and have always had the utmost respect for. She was always there to offer a wise word, to help me brainstorm a problem I might have had, to provide a sanity check or just to make me smile and laugh. Lisa was an amazing, intelligent, compassionate woman who managed to touch people, many people, all over the world. She was a rare gem.

My thoughts are especially with her children and husband who must carry on without her. They were the centre of her universe, the centre of her heart. While their grief must be horrendous, I hope it won’t be too long before they can remember Lisa without too much pain – at least most of the time.

So sad to hear this. Augie was one of the people who talked me through the ins and outs of Fluther when I first joined and would get frustrated with the system. When life took her away from here on a regular basis I missed her contributions. Whenever she made one of her infrequent visits I tried to say hello and re-establish contact each time. It is depressing to think that she will no longer be joining us in the tide pool.
Bon Chance Augie.

So sad. Fluther will never be the same again. RIP, Auggie. You left your mark on this place.

This is still so unreal. I keep thinking “She never even got the chance to be a Gramma….” and the tears start burning again.

Just now seeing this. I am heartbroken. Lisa and I were not close, but I can say that I respected her, found her to be intelligent, caring and funny. In fact, the first person I knew named Lisa who wasn’t a headcase. So grateful to have known her.

Who created the jellyfish tribute at the top of the page? Nice job!

Oh my. Good catch @notnotnotnot. I just now saw it.

@notnotnotnot My guess is that it was @ben

That’s really nice.

Now I’m tearing up.

Just wanted to pop in and share my appreciation for you all and this thread. Even if she didn’t frequent this site often anymore, she talked about a lot of you all the time… “remember so and so from fluther?” So many of you were her best and dearest friends, and even when she was tired and overworked, other people were always on her mind. She cared a lot about this community and the friendships she made here, and I think this thread really highlights the essence of who she was. <3

@mangeons thank you so much for stopping by. Love to you and your sisters in this hard, hard time. We miss her greatly.

Wow. Thank you so much @mangeons.

@mangeons Thank you so much for coming by. Lisa was beautiful inside and out.

@mangeons Thank you for taking a moment to come back here. I read this thread this past Sunday and was walking around crying and puffy-eyed. It was hard to explain to people how much Lisa meant to me when we’d never met in real life.

But she was one of the first people I met here on Fluther. Still remember staying up late so many nights and saying goodnight to Lisa when the rest of the world was quiet. She was funny and kind. Smart and thoughtful. And as much as it hurts to think all of those amazing things are gone—they’re not really. It makes me so happy to know you and your sisters are all of those things.

I’ve just been reading the comments on this thread but not commenting myself because I didn’t know what to say. Because I wanted to say so much to Lisa and she was gone. But I think I can say them to you.

Thank you for everything you’ve done. And for everyone you’ve touched. And for being you. And sharing your time and your self. It meant a lot to a lot of people. It meant a lot to me.

Love you, Auggie Doggie.

Damn it.
Crying again.

Let’s raise a glass to Auggie! Like many others who came on board at that time, she was welcoming and very helpful.

As a tosst to her, I quote The Doctor:

Keep the faith. Travel hopefully. The Universe will surprise you…Constantly

This is so sad. I joined Fluther when I was 13 (ten years ago…whoa!) and was shocked by the group of jellies on here—these people were like nobody I’d ever known in my sheltered life. Because of this, Fluther has helped me grow. That’s right, a Q&A helped me become who I am, and it’s jellies like Augustlan who made this possible for me. Not only did she always have valuable things to say, but her attitude and interactions with others were enough to serve as a role model for me. Farewell, Augustlan, and thank you.

I’m very sad to hear about our dear Auggie. She was one of the first people to welcome me to Fluther and she always had a wise attitude and a calming way of putting things. I missed her when she stepped back. She made such an impression on this online community, I can’t imagine how much she will be missed by us all