I was calling the appointment confirmations yesterday; that's one of my daily tasks. One patient's answering machine greeting was slightly garbled. Either the audio tape was worn out, or the person's diction was less than precise; in any case, what it sounded like was a request for the caller to "leave a message at the weep".

Well, after the news that I received this morning, that's how I feel: like weeping. Jeff Lamana, the founder and webmaster of flyersphans.com, an online community of fans where I've posted for the past several years, lost a two-year battle with cancer this morning. We've known for a few weeks that this might be coming, but when my cell phone rang this morning with the call bearing the sad news, it was still an immense heartbreak.

To visit the online community that Jeff founded, visit the flyersphans.com link on the left-hand side of this page. To view the discussion thread that broke the sad news to the board, go here.
Actually, that's a great link to follow if you want to get a clear idea of how much Jeff meant to a tremendous number of people. We've lost a good man today, and the world is a lesser place for it. Heaven, on the other hand, has just improved with this latest addition to its population.

I'm posting a photo taken in happier times: the flyersphans.com get-together at the Phantoms game on November 5, 2004. Jeff is the tallest person in the picture, standing just to the left of the Flyers logo.

We'll all miss you, Jeff! Pray for us till we meet again.

And if anyone needs to get in touch with me, leave a message at the weep. :o(