Glad to know Louis is OK. I noticed that he only posted a couple of times since I've been back. Larry was quite a prolific poster here and I was shocked when he announced he was giving up model railroading to pursue artistic endeavors. I wished he had been an N scaler when he started selling his equipment! Another one who comes to mind is Old 97. He just dropped out of sight one day.
I know that sometimes an absence is just do to the demands of work or other aspects of life. I've been off of here a couple of times because of work. Sometimes it's due to illness or even death. Sometimes a friend or relative will pass the word on to us, such as in Jeffrey' s case. Other times, we're left wondering.
For what it's worth, I told my wife to get on here and pass the news in the event of a serious turn of events. Not to garner sympathy for me (I most likely won't be in a position to know or care) but just to put an end to the "whatever happened to that guy" speculation. I've never met anyone here in person but I do feel like this is a community of friends that I enjoy hearing from. I just hope that there are a few others that feel the same way.
Sorry, I don't mean to be morbid, especially at this time of year. But we just had a brother Boilermaker from our local union pass away yesterday who was nine years younger than me. It gets you to thinking of how fleeting life can be.