When I started on Diaryland in 2001 (or 2002), I didn't have a whole lot of readers. I would spend my time reading other people's diaries, and I discovered that DLand had a "Survivor" contest going on. I checked out all the "Survivor" players, and that was how I found Cosmicrayola.

I soon joined her over-40-gang diaryring, and from there, found other diaries I enjoyed reading. But once I had joined Cosmic's diaryring, she emailed me, and introduced herself. It started a long friendship. Cosmic was very helpful with DLand, and once she got to know me a bit better, we would trade emails, talk on Yahoo Messenger, and the phone.

Cosmic was a definite night owl, and I had a job that required me to be up early in the morning. But we did manage to have a few late night chats anyway. Cosmic and I both enjoyed Pogo, and spent several hours playing games together there, too.

Cosmic never really said much about her health until she found she had breast cancer. She asked all her buddies to send her tube tops, and I believe she got several! She had surgery on her arm, and it was after that that she stopped working, due to her health. You see, Cosmic had smoked for most of her life, and she had emphysema.

Cosmic was smart as a whip, and knew HTML coding. She was willing to help anyone if she could, and willing to share her wisdom if you needed it. She ran a website that had phone numbers of places for abused women to get help. She had a sense of humor that stretched for miles. Even though her life wasn't perfect, she never complained. She wrote and published a book.

She was a sister, wife, mother, and grandmother. She was a friend. I was proud to be able to call her that. Cosmic was so much to so many of us, but mostly, she was our friend. She never judged, or accused. She was fair.

We will all miss her wisdom, insight and humor. I can imagine her telling jokes in heaven, because heaven is where she will surely be.