Many of you are already my friends on Facebook, and given that I apologize if you have already seen this.  However, I feel very passionate about spreading this message to as many of my friends in the PNW dance game community as possible.  I also apologize for being a downer.  You guys all know that I am not typically a serious person by any means, but again, I feel really compelled to share this with all of you.  

I have been involved with Bemani communities around the country for 12 years now, and I've met so many amazing, supportive people this way. I wanted to share this with all of them.

One of my friends from the Utah tournament scene, Timothy Hansmann, was in a horrible accident several days ago while on a road trip home from visiting family for the holidays. One minute he was resting in the passenger seat, and the next thing he knew he was regaining consciousness only to find that his car had flipped an estimated 5 times. He is alive and physically fine, but his dog died almost instantly in his arms, and on January 1st, he lost his beloved wife Abbey after she had spent several days in the hospital. I never knew Abbey, but Tim is a fantastic person who has always made me feel welcome and like I am part of the Utah community, as seems to be customary with people who play these games.  I will never forget the first time I met him, because he entered a tournament in a full pirate costume, complete with oversized feathered hat.

Tim is obviously grieving right now. I can't even imagine how he must feel. Obviously there is nothing I can do about that. But I can offer a little bit of help shouldering the hospital bills to make this difficult time just a tiny bit less stressful for him, and so can you.

I generally make it a policy to refrain from requesting that my friends donate to causes, even ones that I personally care deeply about. But it seems to me that "We rhythm gamers gotta stick together" is a really important part of Bemani culture and always has been, and in the spirit of that, I want to leave this link here so that anyone who can spare a few dollars and wants to help out a member of our weird and wonderful little family who really, really needs it has the opportunity to do so. If you are interested in hearing him tell the full story, there is also a video of him doing so on the aforementioned linked page.

Tell the people you care about how much you love them every day. You may never get another chance.