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[mostlymuttszeldathon]

Five Years Later

Thanks for visiting this page.

The sudden passing of our friend April is something that shattered the lives of everyone who knew her, and an introduction to the concept of what loss of innocence truly means.

The Mostly Mutts Zeldathon is something I started hosting all the way back in 2018 to honor April—her obituary requested donations to their organization in lieu of flowers, and in the wake of existential devastation, it was a spot of hope for myself and everyone else as a means of catharsis, to remember her, and preserve the legacy of someone inexplicably taken from us far before her time.

April was a shining star of joy and compassion in our hometown, beloved by everyone who knew her, a girl next door with a barking, infectious laugh who loved dogs more than anyone else in the world.

She was someone we grew up with, experienced so many ups and downs of life with, someone we went to college with, someone I and so many others regularly laughed or cried all night with, and ultimately, someone who was snatched away from the people who love her by a devastatingly, unfairly cruel universe that still doesn't make sense five years later.

She was a kind, funny, creative person who loved cosplay, creating art, playing piano, sushi, attending conventions and concerts, playing video games, and so much more. She could be friends with anyone.

She used to volunteer at Mostly Mutts and would visit other rescues and pet stores in the area just to play with puppies and love on them. She had the gentlest giant of a Bernese Mountain Dog named Lacy, and was beloved by her roommate's Husky Nova and boyfriend's Black Lab Coco. She was goofy as hell and always found something to laugh about. She loved spontaneous games of You Laugh, You Lose and always had a meme ready to send you.

There wasn't a mean bone in her body, and even when someone was cruel to her, she laughed it off. She was someone I and many others thought would always be around, someone to joke with when we inevitably ended up in the same nursing home together in fifty years, still barking that TAH-HAH-HAH laugh you'd recognize anywhere.

The Legend of Zelda was also her favorite video game series. It was something we bonded over, and it became a sort of interest-glue that kept us and so many of our friends in touch through the years. Growing up, we used to stay over at each other's houses with our friend Liz marathoning the games together—her favorite was Twilight Princess, Liz's was Wind Waker, and mine was Ocarina and Majora. She had a Triforce purse, Triforce lamp, tons of stuff from Etsy, official stuff, she cosplayed, she went to Symphony of the Goddesses several times. She even had a replica of the Ocarina of Time she learned to play. The Song of Storms was the first song she learned to play on it. Supposedly, it started raining when she did it one time. I believe it, she had the spirit for it.

It means so much to be that so many people turned up to the first stream and to subsequent streams to help Mostly Mutts. Life as we all know it has changed in ways I’m sure none of us thought were ever possible.

Thank you for being supportive friends, supportive strangers, and supportive human beings. The loss of a best friend and the emptiness it leaves in your heart is truly indescribably. I’m glad we as a community can make an effort to do some positive in the aftermath of her passing. We will never forget her and the joy and friendship she brought not only to my life, but to so many others’ too. 

Everyone grieves differently and I hope everyone is doing the best they can five years later. I have more to say on grief in other posts—it's something that isn't talked about enough in any aspect of life.

As I've gotten older and learned more, I wanted to make a serious effort to archive and preserve her legacy and continue helping it grow with all of you. Let's make another wonderful years of memories together.

From the bottom of her family's, her friends', and my hearts, thank you so much for being here.

Brian