In memory of Rebecca
Why the purple avatar? Settle in, and I'll tell you the story of a Little Spark who has touched so many lives...
Many years ago, when I was just starting as a web developer, I stumbled upon some CSS experiments by a guy named Eric Meyer. He was curious and geeky, and doing some crazy stuff that was tremendously cutting edge at the time. As time went on, Eric generously shared himself and his ideas through blogging, and he created the An Event Apart conferences with Jeffrey Zeldman.
He's touched so many lives, and influenced so many people. His experimentation was my inspiration, and I say in complete honesty: Eric is one of the main reasons I'm a successful web developer today.
Last August, on a family vacation, Eric's middle daughter Rebecca (nicknamed "Little Spark") became deathly ill with no warning. After an emergency room trip and an airlift to a children's hospital, they found that Rebecca had a rare and very aggressive type of brain cancer, with tumors growing fast. She was only 5 years old.
Eric used his blog (http://www.meyerweb.com) and Twitter (@meyerweb) throughout Rebecca's illness to try and document everything, to make sense of a senseless situation, to confront his fears and dare to hope. I -- and so many others whose lives were touched by Eric -- followed along on his journey, and hoped, and prayed that Rebecca would recover.
They made every possible effort -- surgery, chemotherapy, medication, an experimental study, and everything that a loving family could possibly do to help their child. She clung to life stubbornly, very much the way she lived all her life. But in the end, Rebecca lost her battle a few days ago, slipping away on her 6th birthday.
I'm not ashamed to say that I've been weeping off and on since then, grieving for Eric and his little girl, almost the same age as my own youngest daughter. I can barely imagine the pain he and his family are going through.
Rebecca's funeral is tomorrow. There is an effort to have the hashtag #663399Becca trend on Twitter tomorrow, June 12th, 2014 (see www.zeldman.com/2014/06/10/the-color-purple/ for details), for people to remember and honor her memory. So although I can't be there, I'm showing my support for the Meyer family by changing my avatar to purple, Rebecca's favorite color (#663399, in web "hex code" parlance).
As Zeldman said, "It will not be enough. Nothing will ever be enough. But it will be something." I only wish it could be more...
