I've been wanting to get in here and talk about my friend Nelson, but up until now, it's just been too difficult. His loss still is too close to the surface. But let me give it a go.
I first met Nelson about 3 1/2 years ago when he joined The Marijuana Forum. I had been a member there for awhile and was just promoted to Super Moderator. Being a couple of old farts, we sort of fell in together. We became fast friends and many a night would be PMing back and forth, discussing a variety of topics. Nelson was a liberal, I'm a conservative. We discussed growing, politics, shared life experiences and in general had fun and enjoyed our selves. After I became an Administrator on TMF I promoted Nelson to a mod position. However, he didn't see eye to eye with the other admin, Astra, and eventually Astra not only took his mod position away, he banned Nelson. This really upset me, but I let some time pass and was finally able to get his ban lifted. When Astra continued to undermine me I finally decided to leave. I had joined AFN shortly after it was formed, but wasn't a very active member. That's when I made the decision to come here full time. When I left TMF, not only Nelson, but also Jackal, Smashed, and about 10 other members also left and joined me here. I've never forgotten the loyalty that Nelson and the others showed during that time.
Nelson suffered from SADS. Every winter when the days would start to shorten and his condition would ramp up, anything little thing seemed to set him off. So I would have to get him settled down and convince him to stay. It almost became comical and I could predict when it would happen. Sure enough, sometime around last December I got a PM from saying he was taking some time off the forum. When I reminded him that this was the 4th winter we were going through the same thing it seemed to bring everything into perspective for him and he was okay after that.
Nelson was diagnosed with brain cancer about 8 years ago. When the Canadian health care system wasn't able to provide him with the needed treatment they sent him to Boston for specialized care and picked up the tab. Because of the treatment he received he was a big fan of the nationalized Canadian system. When the heath care debate here in the US started we spent many hours discussing the pros and cons of both the US and Canadian systems. Like a lot of US citizens, I was woefully unaware of what was happening with my northern cousins. Through my conversations with him I learned a lot. While he didn't change my mind, in the end I think we both learned a lot.
We also discussed the US Presidential election at great length. Nelson had a somewhat slanted view of what was happening here in the US as he was only getting news from the major media outlets, which are for the most part, left biased. I would point him to other news outlets where he could find alternative view points. While I was never able to convince him to become a conservative, he did come to realize that conservatives were not the two headed demons that they are often portrayed as in the major media.
Nelson had a big heart and was always willing to help someone in need. The Smashed Christmas Fund Raiser was his idea. In retrospect I think he might have known his time was short and wanted to do something of importance with the time he had left. He was very proud of the support his idea got and the outpouring of love and donations that he received from our wonder AFN members. When the money was stolen he was devastated and took money he had been saving to buy a new LED and sent it to Smashed. In fact, the last post he made was to tell us he was digging his car out of the snow so he could go to the post office and check up on what happened.
Good friends are hard to come by and when you find one, you are truly blessed. Nelson was my friend and I feel honored that he considered me to be his friend as well. I am thankful for having had the opportunity to know him. Here's to you my friend, you are missed. :buds::smokebuds:
Lee became acclaimed for his guitar solos at Woodstock in 1969 
