I am Jarle Shannarrah, I have been a long time missing from
within the heart of this order. I have had things come up in my life,
both mental and physical that have cost me time to be away from you
all. Know that while this happened you were all in my heart. You are
all my friends, and I value each and every one of you as I do my own
family, some of you have helped me through the worst parts of my
life, some of you have helped me become the person I am today, for
these things I am ever greatful. However I look around now and I see
that we have become stagnant yet again, and I'm not sure what can be
done about it. I cannot put the drive back into this order alone.
I cannot cause our hearts to soar with the friendships we once shared
so closely. I cannot put the lust back into all of our hearts to want
to make Elanthia a better place. I can only do what comes naturally
to me, I can tell you what this order has done and meant for me. I
joined this order, over 5 years ago, back when Melistat, Seihjin and
Krymson were the figure heads of this order. Melistat, Krymson and
Seihjin were the founders of this order primarly, Nightsea and a
bunch of others came before me, I only came with an open heart, mind
and soul. I found friends, Die hard, steadfast and true to form. I
found people accepting of me, regardless of my flaws, my pains, my
issues, my problems. I found a place where my heart could grow, my
soul could open up to the greater joys of the world, and my mind
could expand and flourish.
Then, things changed. Melistat stepped down as speaker, And for
months, nobody took up the position, then Valkri, a dear good friend
of mine, nominated me, and much to my surprise, everyone agreed. I
know I'm leaving out a lot of your names here, but to mention all of
you, would take forever, and I'm leaving out several big events. I
took up the position with mild reluctance. I have never
been a leader, never thought of myself as a strong person, never
thought of myself as a role model, I thought I just was what I was,
and that it wasn't enough for me to do much. But things changed, I
started doing things, and people started coming to me with
problems, and I had answers, solutions, compromises, I found ways to
make people happy. I found ways to make myself happy, and as time
progressed, I became stronger, in mind and body, I became more
Intelligent and wise, I found my soul growing and flourishing with
new friends, new loves, new hobbies, and new ideas. I found myself
opening up in ways I never thought I would. I owe this to all of you.
It is a gift for which I will never be able to express my true
thanks. You have all made me into the person I am today, and though
things have changed I still value all of you, I still care about all
of you, and if there is ever anything I can do to help any one of
you, I would be there in a heartbeat. I wish I could remember the
pigeons of all the others who have been with us, so that I could send
this to them as well, because it is something I may have said before,
but something I feel needs to be said more frequently, because it is
the truth.
With that being said, I want to start again. I want to do
what we should be doing, and recruiting, having meetings,
socializing, having parties, bringing elanthia close together once
more. I want to teach, I want to learn, I want to have the
friendships we shared be as close as they were in times past. I want
to see the order grow and flourish.
In my own hand,
Father Jarle Shannarrah
Speaker of Li Tumbra Mir,
Cleric of Glythtide and Murrula
Friend.
(OOC: As I wrote all this I wanted to make sure I pointed out that
this is meant both IC and OOC, You have all helped me become a better
person for real, and it is a gift for which I can never thank all of
you enough, If it hadn't been for DR, the Mir, and my friends there
is no way I'd be where I am today, or as strong as I am today. I
thank you all for everything.
Sincerely,
Doug)
http://home.comcast.net/~FatherJarle/index.html
Li Tumbra Mir
"If it ain't drunk, Drink it."
