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                           GENERAL ARTICLES   
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   Janis Kracht - June 14 1991 - October 21st 2024   
   Ward Dossche - 2:292/854   
      
   I got the message of Janis' passing from Lauren, her daughter, and   
   that is one of these moments when the world stops ... for a few   
   seconds anyway and you become innundated with sentiment.   
      
   Janis, assisted by hubby Ron, was actively present in the Fidonet   
   nodelist from June 14th 1991 till the day of her passing October   
   21st 2024 .. 30 years to the day when I entered the nodelist as   
   2:2/0 ... They say that lightning does not strike twice ... At   
   least I hope it doesn't. She was the 2nd longest ever serving ZC.   
      
   Janis had been a guiding light for years to many people, super   
   friendly and helpful as described by some, the ultimate bitch as   
   described by others.   
      
   I had the good fortune of meeting her. There was a trip from   
   Belgium to Connecticut for a wedding and it took me virtually past   
   her front door. So we decided to meet ... at a pizza place on the   
   way to the wedding. She came down with hubby Ron doing the driving.   
      
   It was immediately obvious how well Ron took care of her, lifting   
   her out of the car, assisting her getting on stairs ... Janis   
   suffered from multiple sclerosis but she never let that detract her   
   from doing things.   
      
   Actually, I was a bit cautious for this meeting but seeing how   
   these two interacted made it easy. She immediately wanted to delve   
   into Fido-business, these were the days still of PSTN-only and   
   there was ample opportunity for massive fights ... Probably the   
   notion of "Keyboard Warrior" was invented in Fidonet.   
      
   We talked about a lot of things, mostly non-Fido, that got her a bit   
   nervous because she was all into the politics at that time. The   
   proprietor of the pizza-plaza obviously needed our seats for other   
   customers ... so we concluded that meeting (after all, I still   
   needed to get to a wedding) and said our good-bye's. Photos were   
   taken and distributed, I probably lost them in a crash ... Don't   
   know if anyone kept copies somewhere.   
      
   Later we got a couple of times head to head as no action was ever   
   taken about the verbal abuse of the one whose name we're not   
   supposed to mention. Invoking the ZCC to overrule rulings (something   
   which was never done before and never happened afterwards). There   
   was the period of suspicious undertakings where she was the   
   "ZC whisperer"; the so-called conversations with the illustrious   
   and evasive ZC6 Bin Li filled multiple screens full of doubt. The   
   man obviously did not understand English, was incompetent at running   
   a node and just did as he was told. And Janis called-in her markers.   
      
   Let it be understood that the atmosphere with Janis in general was   
   good, nomatter how you interpret the above paragraph. When her   
   system backfired and messed-up her ZONE1-segment I could just call   
   her voice as she had 6 hours, because of the time-difference to fix   
   whatever needed fixing. And when my own system suffered a major   
   crash, she was instrumental for it to surface again. There was   
   no animosity, just help.   
      
   We never discussed it but you could notice that over the years   
   her agility for maintaining her system was lagging. There was   
   "something" but she did not volunteer any information and I had   
   no right to query her for it.   
      
   When she decided to call it quits for her ZC-status in 2018, it   
   did not come as a surprise. She and I remained in touch; love her   
   or hate her but she was a monument in Fidonet.   
      
   Lately we talked about a possible renewal visit as I always wanted   
   to see the Woodstock site at least once, and it isn't all that far   
   from Slaterville. Janis could go on about that how she and her   
   sister had secured tickets to the festival, her sister could go   
   but she couldn't as she was deemed too young at that time by her   
   father... Ahhh, those memories.   
      
   Despite our differences 20 years ago or so, the years have softened   
   our views of each other and the end product was a special   
   friendship that few would have thought possible.   
      
   I will miss Janis, maybe no one believes it, but the relationships   
   between Fido people are of a unique character that you don't find   
   in other computer realms. It's truly a community. We have fought   
   so often that you know the other. And then suddenly she is gone.   
      
   Eventually it happens to all of us, and yet it remains sad.   
      
   I felt like the last chapter in Janis' life story had not yet   
   been written.   
      
   Let me conclude the way she concluded her last email to me ...   
   "Love Yah".   
      
   Ward Dossche   
   IC - Fidonet   
      
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