Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board Rest In Peace, MLLASH

Thank you so much for going to the service and for sharing everything about it with us, Ex.

And I send you a hug to help ease the emotional rollercoaster:

Beautifully and eloquently stated, Ex.

Hey Ex
Thanks for doing this
We know that Lash would have loved it (and the flowers, Quis!)

I share Fanfic's hug on you

Thanks for sharing, Ex. I smiled a little. And thanks for the flowers, Quis and contributors

I was thinking of Lash throughout the day, taking some moments especially during the time of the funeral service. About an hour later I was doing some errands in a store and was suddenly struck with a deep sadness. I just stood still for about 5 minutes, feeling a sense of loss. For someone I never met in person. Our friend Lash had a mighty set of super-powers, but the greatest was love that defied boundaries.

Ex, for all of us who couldn't be present to share the condolences and hugs, thanks for being there and reporting back. It's a gift in our grief. Quis, thanks for providing a symbol of our remembrance.

Thanks for the report Ex. Sounds like a good send-off to the other side. I'm glad to hear they all loved him as much as we did.

Glad you got to attend, Thomas.

Godspeed, Lash

Ex,

Thanks for the report.

I remember when Pov & I drove down to Wizard World in Dallas. We stopped at LASH's on the way and he was to join us but drive his own car. But that night we had to o see his mother. I think she wanted to see who her son was going off with.

However, his stepfather gave us walkie-talkies to comunicate on the drive from Memphis to Dallas.

I've been away for a couple of days at work. I found out right before I had to leave.

Lasher was simply a great friend, and the best person I never met.

We first met at the old DC boards. Lasher was funny as hell and always found some new twist on something legion to throw out there. He and Reep got me here,and Lasher was one that got me to calm the hell down during my first couple years here.

He was always there for a quick word or two when life was sucking particularly bad and somehow his infectious humor made things better. We talked privately when my dad was sick and dying.

I told him about some things in my life, being out of work for a year in particular. It was just talk on my part, and the first thing out of his keyboard was "I think I've got about a hundred bucks lying around here." He was offering to send me money and we had never met in person. I've got family that knew how rough it was and never said a word to me. He was that kind of friend. And this was just a little under a year ago, while he was redoing his own house.

He made it tough for me to be a Cranky McBasstard around him. He was always ready with something far wittier than I could ever be, but it was never mean or hateful.

Since I got this job, I haven't had the time to be on the boards. I knew his health was rough, but like everyone else I fully expected him to recover. Someone that great doesn't simply die.

Over the last few days I've thought about his boundless energy. His crazy creativity, Fembrain... All the nutty shit he started just for shits and giggles and because he knew it would be a hoot to do.

People come and go in life and death. The lucky ones have impacted a person or two, will be remembered for a year or two and then forgotten as life inevitably moves on. Lash is as much family to me as my "real" family. I hate this. But he will be remembered, and will be a positive influence on me.

I know Lasher had much closer friends than I. People in his life that he knew and had known for years and decades. And the thought of the pain they must be feeling right now saddens me. And honestly, I feel sad for me. We had fun that had nothing to do with the sad and depressing stuff. Just goofy, silly fun for fun's sake. And we talked to each other about other things. He wasn't just an ear to bend when life was in the crapper, but he was there for that too.

I don't know what it was like at the end for him. I hope he wasn't in real pain. I know Cash and others stood by him, and to them you have my true, sincere gratitude. Michael deserved a hospital full of people by his bedside.

Quite simply, I loved the guy like the brother I never had.

That was very eloquent Rick. Thanks for putting some of my own feelings into words.

And a big hug to EX. Take care a you too.

I've waited to come in here. This was the place it all really began for me and Lash. For The last 15 years why he's been the person that I went to when anything good or bad happened. When I found out that I had HIV I told him months before anybody else new and he kept my confidence when I thought I was going to lose my job because I thought I was going to be laid off he sent me the sweetest picture of Star Boy and Nura. When I was homeless he sent me money to live on until I can find a place to live . He's done so much for me both physical and emotional way that I'm finding it hard to believe this is real. We never got to meet in person in fact the one time we had planned to we had the one falling out we've ever had over the course of 15 years and it was canceled . Now that things have gotten better I was planning to go see him this summer and now I can't . He was such a great man I have never known anyone like him we texted daily we should music we would watch we would sink I Keeview watching at the same time and message each other's things were happening on the shows that we love her and I miss him so much already . I haven't come on here as much as I should and now I'm going to do my best to make myself a presence here because I know that's what he would've wanted Michael I love you and I hope you can hear this or read this As the case may be. thank you for being in my life for the past 15 years and just know that you mattered hell you still matter .

I love reading all these tributes and memories to Lash. Like with our other recently passed friends, it does help.

And it is so nice to remember all the wonderful things Lash has done.

It's a little thing, but I realized yesterday what an influence Lash really has had on me. I was buying a new pair of trousers and I realized that I am in the habit of calling such things "pantaloons."

It's been a very, very long time since I last popped into Legion World and I'm really sad that the reason I'm doing so now is because of something like this.

More years ago than I care to remember (15? 16? 17, even) I had never read a Legion book and was primarily about Wonder Woman ad the JSA. I was also an active member on the old DC message boards, mostly on the Wonder Woman board. One day the board was suddenly invaded by a group of LSH board posters (stop me if you've already heard this one) who prompted to wreak havoc and much silliness before doing the same to almost all the other boards on the forum, picking up stragglers along the way, including yours truly. And that, my dears, was essentially the origin of the LMBP and why I was (while not a founding member) right there at the start of it all.

The main reason I was there, though, was Lash. It was Lash and Beagz that were the two posters who I first interacted with. IIRC I'm pretty sure we spent most of the time on the WW board flirting (in character) shamelessly. From that a proper friendship developed. I hadn't spoken to him for a long while since I dropped off the boards here and he dropped off twitter, but he was one of those people who always held a place in my heart. He sent us a wedding present when we got married and a card when we adopted for the first time, and there aren't that many people I know from the internet that knew me well enough to do that.

Lash was one of the kindest, funniest sweetest people I have ever had the good fortune of knowing. I feel honoured to have known him.

Lash was the most optimistic, sweetest, funniest, all-around most positive human being its ever been my pleasure to know. I know that I "only" knew him via the internet and, very regrettably, never got a chance to meet him in person, but his light was so incredibly bright that it always shone through the filters of the internet.

I've said elsewhere ("Let's talk About It" thread) the past couple of days that he was in fact the first poster I ever vibed with on message boards. But beyond that, I feel he was key to making me feel comfortable just being my own crazy self in the forums. He was already the heart and soul of what would become the LMB, even in those earliest days when a small group of comic book nerds starting vibing with each other in a way that I feel just has to be considered magical. This was especially so back when the internet was still discovering what it was and when there was still so much anonymity and ambiguity.

Basically, I think that without him as the key person involved that everything with the LMB and Legion World that was still to come just would never have been. We had this brilliant, creative, loving, one-of-a-kind angel in our midst who made us live up to our potential and give many of us something we really needed--even if for some of us, it was only for a specific period of time. Others of us stayed around and joined him in becoming stewards of the great community that would be here for future members to discover and for lapsed members to revisit should they find themselves being drawn back.

That is part of Michael Lash's legacy, and it's something that I and others will always maintain and keep alive. It's what he would want, and it's also what I want.

Thank you, Michael, for touching my life in a way that words are inadequate to express. I will always remember your example and hope to live up to it.

I love you, Lashy!

I remember introducing Lash to The Walking Dead and how he became an even bigger fan than me. I've not kept up with him or any of my friends here as I should have. Those regrets will always live with me.

Michael was the best. Always a kind word for everyone, the first to make you feel welcome, to try and make you laugh. For me he was the foundation to what made Legion World the home it was for all of us. For what it still is today.

I echo Lardy in proclaiming my love and will miss you deeply Lash!

This is sad news. I feel redundant and late to the party, but I'll be damned if I don't say something to express my appreciation for Lash. He'd want every last lurker to speak up (and get an LMBP mini-series).

His humor and disposition is one of the reasons I went from lurker to member during the exodus from the old DC boards - this new Legion World seemed fun thanks to people like Michael. He really did set the tone for this community.

"Future was a good kid, unlike the rest of you ruffians!" It was an idle comment he made during my first big hiatus from the boards for kicks, I'm sure. It's probably ten years old now. He'll never know how much I appreciated it. I've always been so flattered to even be on his radar. Lash was just so COOL.

Warm regards to those who knew him better than I. I'm grateful to see so many old names and know there's still a place for us to come and cherish the things Lash also loved.

Aw Future. No memories of Lash are redundant! And never too late to share.

What I find so great about this is how many of us have individual stories and interactions with Michael. When you think about the amount of time he spent with each of us it's pretty obvious that the man cared a great deal about everyone!

Yay!

Matt, while I'm sorry for your loss of such a good friend, I do hope we'll see you around here more often.

What cleome said

This is shocking news. When I first joined Legion World, Lash's super fun attitude and hijinks were what kept me coming back. I never met Lash in person, and I haven't signed in here in a long time, but I want to give a huge shout-out to someone who brought so much joy and fun to these boards, he was an amazing presence. Oh, I am sad.