Like a lot of people I've been following the adventures of Gaintbomb since the very beginning, I always made sure to check the site daily and make sure I watched the latest dumb video they put out. Every week I download the bombcast and listen to the whole thing, smiling and trying not to laugh while on the bus. Jeff, Vinny, Ryan, and Brad (and everyone else) have become as close to being my friend's as much as someone can without actually meeting the other. These guys are obviously the reason why Giantbomb is such an amazing site, and I always wondered what I would do if one of them happened to die.

I, of course, never thought that I would have to find out so soon. Today on July 8th 2013, we were told that Ryan Davis passed away on July 3rd, just a few short days after getting married.

When I first opened up Giantbomb and saw the new posting, I was on my first break at work. When I first read the title I thought it was going to be some dumb joke, or another posting explaining that another staff member was leaving the site to do something else. Both of these would have been much better than what was actually inside the news story ( http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/ryan-davis-1979-2013/1100-4685/ ). As soon as I read it my heart sank, while still reading the article I immediately grabbed my phone and started txting all my friends who would have known who Ryan Davis was. I was left thinking to my self over and over again "This can't be real", "This has to be some kind of dumb joke" but unfortunately it's not, and it's very real. And it hurts.

Ryan Davis has been with Giantbomb from the start, he was never afraid to share his opinion of something, he knew how to make people laugh, he was by all accounts super nice to everyone in real life, and (at the same time) he was kind of a dick. Anytime Ryan would laugh at something, it would be the most deep laugh I've ever heard and it never failed to bring a smile to my face. I'm sure if I looked at all of my favorite moments with Giantbomb I would find that most of them have Ryan doing his trademark laugh somewhere in the video.

I've had a few important deaths in my life, most notably the death of my Father when I was 11 or so. I didn't really know him too much growing up, but even still the fact it was my Dad, and he was dead...sucked. I haven't been legitimately sad when I heard of a death since that day. The death of Ryan Davis changed that, I knew Ryan was an important part of my life, but now that he's dead I truly realize how much I am going to miss him. Every time I think about all the past memories I have of Ryan, and come to terms that there will be no more new ones, almost bring me to tears. It's amazing how much of an impact he truly had on me. During my day at work today, I would get busy in some work, and forget for a bit, then when I would have a few moments to myself I would reflect on Ryan, I would picture the news article on the front page of Giantbomb, I would hear his voice in my head from the Bombcast, and the rush of emotions would come back...

One of the things I realized with Ryan passing, is how do I explain Ryan to someone who doesn't follow Giantbomb. Saying "Some dude from a video game website" doesn't do Ryan justice, but saying my friend also seems to personal. But when I think back, that's what Ryan was, He was my friend. I may not have been his, but he sure as hell was mine. I will miss him.

Rest In Peace Ryan.