Surrounding myself with music...seems an appropriate form of comfort right now. Its been playing near constantly since I heard the news, sometimes just in my head. Surprisingly a great deal of it isn't sad--a lot of what I hear are his songs. I remember so many of them, and I loved watching him play out live with the band. I wrap the music around me like a thick blanket surrounding my most vulnerable parts. He holds me safe with familiar progressions. The chords bind me fast anchoring half forgotten lazy afternoon memories in my mind. Shaun was always wonderful about making people feel GOOD, and never treating anyone with anything less than the utmost respect. He was a gentleman...at least MOST of the time. *snicker* He had such a BIG heart, so full of love and compassion--always going one step further for someone than he needed to. My heart will always miss him. I'm woeful about the time we spent apart, at odds. That's precious time I won't ever get back with him and in retrospect I wish things had gone differently. That being said...I'm glad he and I reconnected at HHG this past year and began to mend fences, even if the process was painfully slow. I was 17 when we began dating, we met at Carlene and Shane's wedding...when he enthusiastically offered to help lace me into my bodice. I admit I was quickly swept up in the whirlwind of the Bard. His quick wit and even quicker smile touched my heart, and until then I really had no concept of what love really was. He was my teacher, my lover, my love, my song, my light in the void, but most of all my best friend. Its really hard separating from someone when you are the only one who can see the damage that's being done by being together. No one ever loved me like he did and I daresay that no one will love me like that ever again. But then he was Shaun so that in and of itself makes it special, one of a kind, and unforgettable. A brilliant light is gone from this world, and we are truly poorer for it. My thoughts, my prayers, and my heart go out to Michelle, his Mum Linda, his Father Ed, his brother, and his closest friends. I wish I could be there to celebrate his remarkable existence but know I am thinking of you all from afar.