It’s been exactly two months since I logged into the World of Warcraft. Under any normal circumstances “real” people would high-five, or more likely, fist-bump me for such a feat of self control. But for me, every time I think about it, I get a little sad.

See I had (have? what do i say there?) a friend, more like a brother, and we shared a lot of things. The same birth year, the same name (Jonathan), we shared our parents, our siblings, our church, we both married girls who at one time were best friends, we shared our group of friends (the Grey Hats), and we shared “gaming”. It’s almost silly now to think that of all the things Jonathan Glyer and I shared, the one we focused on the most was games. It is clear to me that “gaming” forged the bond I had with my brother, however lame you may or may not think that is, it was a strong one.

We started with games and we ended with games. I met Jonathan in 2001. I began attending his church, and somehow our nerd radar found each other out, because within a month we were together spending $2.50/hr at “Cyberzone” pwning n00bs in counterstrike. That was 9 years ago. From then on I could write my “gaming” history side-by-side with my “Jon” history. We constantly talked about what was coming out, what we liked, what we didn’t. We frequently “LAN”ed at his or my parents house (his house aptly named “1.0”).

The “golden age” culminated, I think, when the crew rented an apartment together in downtown Fullerton, lovingly called: “the 2.0”. Three of us were working, and Jon was finishing college. It was the best of times. I remember Jon, out of all the guys,  was the most anal about cleanliness. We all snickered when he’s get upset that the sponge was left in the sink or when he’d complain about “David’s side of the room” (David and Jon shared a room). It was that year, in that apartment, that we all began playing World of Warcraft, it was 2005.

Over the next two years our group began “falling apart”. Well maybe just from my -emo- perspective. Couples broke up, couples married then turtled (guilty), and people just started walking different paths. Then Jon moved to Seattle. I never really talked to him about it, one of the few actual regrets I now carry around. I was hurt, like a kid in a divorce, I blamed myself. But I was stupid not to broach the subject with him. I think he knew how I felt, but with Jon you never really could be certain what he thought until you asked him. With him leaving it was one last final blow to the crew. David and I still stayed in close touch, but mostly everyone found their own paths.

So there I was, Jon 1,200 miles away, my other best friends were having kids or living in completely different worlds. I myself moved 30 miles away from the people that cared for me. And then an awesome thing happened. I don’t really know if it was a commitment Jon put on his own plate, or if he was just lonely for his friends in California or what, but within months of him moving to Seattle we started playing games and talking at least every other day, it was 2007.

For two full years I was able to spend time with my brother, Jon, over this silly internet, with these silly games. Thinking back, if I didn’t have that, all we would have had were the visits. Visits can be great, but the level friendship I had with Jon relied on constant contact. Over those two years we accomplished the following:

• Won WW2 for the allies, sometimes the nazis, 100x over
• Killed tens of thousands of Zombies
• Saved the middle east from the East, or the West, sometimes both
• Conquered the future with Space Marines sometimes a Masterful Chief and sometimes a big Jerk
• Captured and held the Fortress with our Team
• And most of all, we raided countless keeps, castles, dungeons, and lairs. Striking down evil and passing out the loot

After all that: I would count myself blessed for the time I spent with Jon. But I count myself doubly blessed, because on June 9th, 2009 at 10:53pm we started a podcast, and I’m proud to say Jon named it. Here’s the record of inception:

Jonathan Glyer: oh jeeeez. how about, All the Good Names Were Taken. I’d say Geek Cred but it’s impossible to say.
me: afk 1 min
Jonathan Glyer: Nerdageddon
David: Nerdlinger? haha
Jonathan Glyer: Borked
David: http://www.geekcred.net/
Jonathan Glyer: The Podcast for Dorks.
David: haha
Jonathan Glyer: we could even go with Borkt
David: Borq’t? haha Borked is workable
Jonathan Glyer: hehe wow ya, something with it
David: it’s just, such a common term
Jonathan Glyer: dorkcast, taken of course. This is Geektown
David: hahahahaha
me: sounds like toontown, maybe because I was just there
David: You missed Borked, jon
me: I saw. Borkedcast

As “The Borkedcast” we recorded 20 podcasts before Jon’s accident. The podcasts may be entertainment for you, but for me they were like being back in “the 2.0” in downtown Fullerton. Sipping on a beverage and talking about stuff with the guys I cared most about in life.

The last I spoke to Jon was two nights before he died. We played World of Warcraft. It was good.

Here’s where I get emo: 20 recordings wasn’t enough. Countless raids, dungeons, zombies, and nazis wasn’t enough. 9 years wasn’t enough. Living with him for a year wasn’t enough. It’s been 2 months since he died, and it’s not enough to stop me from crying my brains out writing this last paragraph. I miss my friend so much. Everything is a little less bright in my world because I can’t share it with him. As much as the pain hurts right now, I never want to forget it, or really lose it. It’s a reminder of all the things I wrote in this blog, and so much more. Jonathan Glyer was kind of a big deal, I’ll never forget that, and I’ll never let you forget that, it’s the least I can do.

– the rev