There are two parts to this blog: my posts, which people occasionally read, and the community in the comments section. I don't have all that much to do with the latter, really. It relies on community members, especially those who manage to nudge out the better angels of others at times.
At some point everyone agreed that internet comments sections were bad places, a perspective largely derived from the comments on newspaper sites run by (or not) people unwilling to take any responsibility for them. But online communities that function well (well enough, at least) have long been great and rewarding spaces for people.
Still it is true that keeping them functioning well is difficult, though the secret to doing so is mostly having enough community members who find value in helping to do that, people who are kind and generous and manage to subtly put out fires when they develop.
It wasn't QL's job to do so. She settled into hosting the morning shift here and did so for years but her contribution was just who she was. As someone remarked (sorry, forget who), no one disliked her, and on the internet that's about the highest praise you can get, as I think people understand.
I speak about her role in the community because I didn't know her otherwise, really. She's been "here" forever. I met her in person a dozen or more years ago. We've exchanged a few emails. That's all. I know a couple of other biographical details, but I tend to accept people as their internet personas. I know others on here knew her more, and encourage people to write their own remembrances if they wish.
It's complicated, the way we know and don't know people "on here," but they're real and constant presences in our lives, and losing them is hard.