Peter was 11-years-old when he came to the Web site. He used the handle of Azinacrazy--part of which was his last name. He very quickly captured the hearts of everyone there. He was sweet, precocious, and yet a typical child. He was very intelligent and articulate and could hold his own with the adults.
We all fell in love with this beautiful 11-year-old. Although I never met him and never spoke with him outside the forums, he was like the son I had always wanted. I loved reading what he wrote and looked forward to his posts every day that he was able to post. I prayed for him and was very concerned about him when he became gravely ill, and I rejoiced with the others when he got better and returned to the forums. It was such a joy to have him there. He was with us only eight short months.
Then tragedy struck. Exactly four months to the day after turning 12 he went into a coma and passed away. What a shock when I read that! All I could do was sit there and keep repeating like a parrot, "What? What!? WHAT!!? After a while I went into a special forum made to honor him, read all the replies of people expressing their grief and pain over this great loss. Then with an aching heart, a lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes I wrote my reply. I had to keep wiping away the tears as I wrote and as my heart was breaking.
I have thought many times that if only God would have spared him and taken me instead. Most of my life is gone, but he was so young, so loved, and he had so much potential. He wanted to be a doctor when he grew up, but for reasons I do not understand God chose to call him home.
He loved being nude and was not ashamed of the body God gave him. He also loved the Lord. He left a grieving mother, uncle (his father is gone) and twin brothers. He also left a multitude of grieving fellow naturists and Christians--myself included. He is the only one other than my mother over whom I have shed tears, and I'm not ashamed to say so.
We will remember him and think about his witty words, and his great sense of humor, his great come-backs to our posts, and the way he called us old folks "crumblies". He was one of the most active members of the forums, and rarely did he express embarrassment over anything that was said by the adults, but would sometimes say, "Too much information!" He could speak to us on an equal level, and despite him being a child he was an equal; he was loved, and he will be missed. Someday I will get to meet him in heaven. Still grieving.
I was touched by your tribute to this boy. He used the time given to him to inspire and bless many. I am reminded of the parable of the workers in the vineyard, each laboring for widely different lengths of time, but all for the same pre-agreed-upon wage. In the parable, some who labored long complained about the generous wage even for those who were sent home after a mere hour in the master's vineyard. You know the MASTER's reply, of course: Since each man had agreed to the wage, why should they be concerned how the MASTER rewards the others who labored in the vineyard?
It was not Jesus' main point, but there is an implied truth of nearly equal gravity: some of us are here on this Earth for a short time in our MASTER's service. In perspective, we should by all rights be "jealous" of those who go to heaven quickly, having met all that the Lord required in but a few short years or even months.
Let those of us who remain continue to work hard, training young vines, pruning old branches that have gone the wrong way, harvesting fruit when it appears...
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
I cannot imagine that kind of shock, though I have had some myself. But a 12 yo who was a very active member and has brought many closer together, yet, without explanation, without a chance to say goodbye, he was taken away.
Do you have a link to that memorial site for him? Maybe we can go by and pay our respects.
