Again, gents, please accept my sincere thanks for your kind words. Life has been insanely busy yet again and I haven't had a chance to check in as much as I'd like but I took a look at the boards the other night and saw that this thread had moved back up to the top and I read through your replies.

I wish I knew what to say. To all of you who shared stories of your own personal loss - I too am very sorry for what you've had to experience. One of the remarkable aspects of being human are the communities we form - and I feel that I moved into a new community with this seismic shift in my life. How am I doing? Better. It's been a very hard moment to process but I've had countless interactions with others who have shared their own stories of loss and I feel that, somehow, I am able to better empathize, and better connect with them after what I've gone through. It's still brutal and it still hits me at random times. My flight sim hobby is a direct result of my Mom. She's the one who encouraged it and when I was a kid on the new Flight Sim Forums, she was the one who supervised me when I made my first Delphi account and who listened to me recounting my exploits in the air night after night.

So in many ways life goes on - I'm different from the person I was a few months ago, but I am working to take that experience and use it to be a better compatriot to those around me.

Thank you again guys, I really really appreciate it.