In the chaotic swirling entities that inhabit the dark corridors of the internet, few offer anything more than illusions. Fortunately, I will run across a few who have true colors that express themselves as if conversing with me from the opposite side of kitchen, much less opposite ends of the nation. One of those is, was, and will eternally be with us. It's obvious from the outpouring of heartfelt signs of respect that have been pouring like a rose waterfall, that Sadie was one of those rare creatures.

I, for one, met Sadie on the first true Flame War incarnate. JD made a comment that he had electrocuted himself trying to fetch his keys from the bottom of his wife's toaster (I kid you not, but I degress). There was no response to this bizarre ramble that really had no place being on a flame forum other than for the sender to feel even stupider (on so many levels), but Sadie posted a simple message that made me laugh so hard the next day I had a 6-pack for a stomach. That moment I knew she had a natural pressence about herself that radiated above all others.

Over the next year, we had several chat sessions. Even at late hours, when only the occasional beasty dropper would post, she would join me in chat and we would send hours talking litterally about nothing. It could be about smiles on Gold Fish crackers, or the hostilities overseas. I always considered it a treat to talk with the her, if for one minute or one hour.

The thing that would always make me laugh was her ability to point out the obvious, yet make it so damn funny. If she would point to a nut and say "brown", that would be better than a thousand Jeff Foxworthy "Ma Family Goz Ta Maui" books, better than a thousand knock knock jokes or photoshopped picture.

Everyone has to admit she went through a lot at her position. The near daily cat calls, the ubiquous circa-1975 picture of her smoking a cigarette smerred across the newsgroups, the lesbian jokes, we have heard them all. She did too and laughed about them all. Perhaps that why some kept doing it, maybe that's why my first post in Flame War was "Nele and Sadie Watch Day 4", about Nele and her sitting a jail cell.

She wore her crown of this little slice of internet we inhabit well, the utter vaccum that it has brought will not be patched for some time, if ever. May her words serve not as a memory, but a pressence that is still with us.

In closing, I hope closure for Patricia's family and her extended relationships. We never did get to know her personally, albeit I'll be the one to say I'd love that chance... we all would.

May the dark clouds that surround vanish, and the blue sky and green grass carry her forth into the eternal realm of light. Patricia Philips, you will be missed for your humor, your words, your personality, your life. Rest forever now.