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Christoffer Haugen memorial thread

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Guest jjazz

This is incredibly sad. My deepest condolences to Chris' family and friends. Though I didn't know him personally, that handle has been an active staple for as long as I can remember these forums. Very sad to hear this, and always unfortunate to lose someone in such a cool community such as this.

 

Though I cannot even begin to fathom how devastating this must be for his loved ones, I'll quickly share an experience that I had when I lost one of my closest friends almost 10 years ago (also an avid fan). I was lucky enough to be able to turn to Matt and the board community where I found a lot of support and comfort. Though back then, the boards were incredibly popular and a lot more active than they are now, I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say I still express my deepest sympathies, and extend my hand in help or support in any way possible if need be.

 

Thanks very much for finding this.

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Wow. Terrible. Seems he had Multiple Sclerosis (I'm reading sodamntired's thread in the Showcase Revue board). So very sad for someone so young. I echo Jesse's sentiments. Did not really interact with him, but we all share the bond of a love of music. Losing someone in the community is very sad, and I am sure his family is going through hell. I hope that he is at peace.

 

Ugh.

Edited by Gomo
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Wow, I thought he had been on here more recently. So he had MS? Well this is sad to read. I hope he found salvation in Jesus Christ before his death and is at peace in Heaven and wish the best for his family.

Edited by Manchalivin
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I had figured something was wrong when I hadn't heard from him in awhile. I had many great conversations with him on facebook and on the bored. Even when I got more and more busy with work and life, his daily adventures would pop up in my FB feed and I would take the time to talk with him. I had hoped when he'd gotten quiet on FB, it was because of the cute barrista at Starbucks or he'd met a girl on what we had begun to call his "Casual Walks".

 

There were days when he was Sodamnedawesome, Sodamnedsilly and Sodamnedentertaining.

Now he is in a better place, where his "Casual Walks" never have to end. Sodamnedtired is now

Sodamnedatpeace and he will be Sodamnedmissed,

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Oh no. That's so sad. Yes, his handle has been a staple around here for as long as I've been on this forum too. Rest in peace, Christoffer. My condolences to his family.

 

As if my respect for Matthew Good couldn't get any higher. After seeing Matt's post about Christoffer on his website, my respect for Matt just kicked up another notch. What a great guy.

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There are few people around this place that have stood the test of time the way he did. I think those of us who have been around for a long time can remember at least one interaction with him. I remember being frustrated by how he would always create new threads. But he had character, he was tenacious. He used this place to share a lot of things about his life. Sitting here now, I wish I had known him better.

 

Peace

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Truly one of The Bored's finest. Very sad. I'm glad we could be a positive part of his life at the very least.

 

And another popular boardie on the QOTSA forum died as well. A poignant reminder of the frailty of our own existences.

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I am Chris's big sister. Obviously you all knew him as sodamntired. Seeing the post about him on Matthew Good's blog meant the absolute world to us. Chris was obviously a huge fan. And he would be over the moon to know that someone he held in such high regard took a moment to think of him.

 

Obviously this site was a big part of his world. Buy the sounds of it he was a regular around here. (It was the first thing that popped up on his computer when you opened it up actually.) I know he spent a lot of time here and many of you knew him, but he probably didn't talk too much about the fact that he had MS and that his last few months he was living in what was essentially a nursing home. About a year ago he was MIA from these boards for a few months. He was still living at home at that time, but he had a home care worker that came to check on him, make sure he was taking his meds and take him places a few times a day. When Chris didn't answer the phone one afternoon, his home care worker rushed over to check on him and found that he was unconscious and seizing on the floor. He was then rushed to the ICU where he was unconscious for 2 days. When he finally came back around, and was able to talk, we realized that most of his short term memory was gone. He had a very, very progressive form of MS, and it stole his memories and eventually his life.

 

When he got out of the ICU, he spent a few months in the hospital, and then was transferred to a nursing home where he was the youngest of 400 residents. Most of the residents had been there for 30+ years. They all enjoyed him because he was young, funny and liked to visit and tell stories. His mobility was relatively good, but he did fall down often so if he went anywhere he had to be in a wheelchair, or have someone help him with a walker. So he found 'normalcy' in the online world. Where no one knew that he was the way he was. But don't get me wrong, the kid NEVER complained about what he was going through. He went through chemo, and other extremely painful procedures to try and help him and never once said that it hurt, or he was scared. His whole life he was faced with medical challenges. His nurses would poke and prod him and afterwards he would politely say 'thank you'. I don't know how the kid did it, when I get poked and prodded at the hospital, I have a few other words that I'd rather say. But that is just who he was, he was a polite and had a kind heart .His death was sudden to everyone. He seemed to be doing so well.

 

I want to thank you all for being his friends. I know he thought of all of you as his friends. Even if you weren't always so kind he would have thought of you as a friend. I remember him once telling us that someone online had told him that "he should just kill himself" which made me absolutely lose it being the protective older sister that I am. It's so easy to talk to people like that, from behind the safety of a screen name on the computer especially when you have no clue what that person on the other side of the screen is going through. So I know it can be easy to say ugly and hurtful words to someone, but no one likes a bully. Sorry, rant over, I'm just being that protective older sister still. Say something or do something nice for someone, once a day if you can. It will make you feel so much better as a person.

So thank you all for giving my little brother something to look forward to every day, I know he spent most of his time in front of the computer, because well, there wasn't much else that he could do those last few months of his life. The kid loved exploring the internet. I wish I could tell you how many youtube videos he posted on my facebook page, i mean seriously...it was littered with them! And I am sorry for all the spelling and grammatical errors in this post, it was written as I was sobbing hysterically Like the really ugly weepy crying, that I hate doing, and look awful doing.

So in closing... go for a walk today, have a cup of coffee and tell someone you love them. Those were all his favorite things. Live every day to the fullest and treat it like a gift, because it really is.

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I second Tracy here.

 

A couple of days ago I thought "Wow, how happy would he be if he could see that his name was mentionned with so much love from Matthew Good on his official website". This whole thing is awefully sad.

 

I hope you do read this. I wish you and everyone who knew him all my deepest sympathies.

 

Furthermore I want to thank you for this update. You had no obligation to do it and yet you took the time to update us on a very personal matter. So again, thank you so much.

Edited by Tips
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Sorry to hear this horrible news. Chris definitely kept this place alive for a long time and his absence is felt by everyone no doubt.

 

Some people here were a bit hard on him sometimes because he would post a lot of random threads that sometimes didn't make much sense, but I'm sure this had to do with his disability and I guess none of us fully comprehended it. If we had I'm sure we would have been much more understanding.

 

To his big sis, thanks for sharing what you did. Nice to know this place was a comfort for him.

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Hi,

 

My name's Brett Ortler, and I'm a writer/author, and I'm working on an essay about my friend, Chris Haugen. Long story short: We were close friends, even best friends, for a time (college), and while he had a falling out (my fault) he was one of those friends whose influence sticks with you even after the friendship itself is no longer in the present tense. As you all know, he passed away some time ago, and I've thought about him a lot since he passed away. I messaged with him on Facebook a few months before he passed away, and I only knew that he had MS, not that it was serious enough to cause seizures, and eventually land him in hospice. When I heard he died, a few weeks after it happened, I was stunned. Part of it was because we had been close, but if I'm honest, part of it was because he was my age--the first peer I really knew, to pass. Anyway, I'm a writer by trade, and I can't stop thinking about him, and related matters, and so I'm working on an essay about him. As you can expect, his love of Canadian music, and especially Matthew Good, takes center stage. While working on the piece, I've revisited all of the music he introduced me to--I've been playing "Apparitions" and "Everything is Automatic" on repeat--and in the process of writing it, I've stumbled across the strangest thing--the digital trail he left behind.

 

It's damn spotty, of course. Most of the digital conversations we had--via our school email, via Facebook--have disappeared, but I've found other things. Some of his old playlists, a YouTube account he created with a (pretty decent) music video he shot in Fargo-Moorhead, and what I could read of Matt Good's memorial message about Chris from the blog, which has since disappeared. Given the subject matter (and even some of the music he hooked me on--"Apparitions," Moist's "Underground") that somehow seems fitting, but I'd love to find whatever's left.

 

That's where you come in. I'd love to hear what you remember about him, about his love for Matthew Good (if anyone can find the original Good blog post about him, I'd love it), and whatever you remember. As I'm not much of a member (first post!), I don't have access to all that, but whatever you can share would be much appreciated.

 

I've also contacted his sister (who posted here and was kind enough to let me send her questions), and I'll likely be running the piece by her/his folks, too, to keep things aboveboard. (I'm also still pals with his ex-girlfriend, whom we both went to school with--and who was my N64 competition in Major League Baseball Featurng Ken Griffey, Jr. Baseball at school, but that'll be in the piece. (As a child of the '80s, video games make an appearance.)

 

Anyway, thank you for your help, and happy listening,

 

Brett

 

 

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Brett, it's great to see you're doing something so special in tribute to your friend "sodamntired" ... Unfortunately I did not really interact with him at all and can't offer any specific comment about him. But as I said earlier in the thread, we all share a bond in the way of a love of music, and of course Matt Good's music, and so a loss like his is felt by all of us. I'm around the same age too so I understand how someone like him passing away makes you take a step back and go "whoa...mortality."

 

I hope others on the board are more helpful than I.

Edited by Gomo
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Long time ago, I stumbled across a picture he posted in an old thread on the Bored. I think it came from his Flickr(?) account. There were many pictures. Him with friends and a few cool, obscure pics that Matt posted long time ago, maybe from his blog. When I have free time, I can try to look for this again.

Edited by girl
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Guest Idioteque

This is so sad. I don't believe I ever interacted with him either but I know the feeling of treating the Bored like a home away from home, I view everyone on here like a second family.

 

I had a close friend pass away in 2012 that recommended me this website, I joined a month after he was gone and it still hurts me to this day that I can't find his account.

 

I can't speak for Christoffer but I'd bet anything he would be smiling knowing he's not forgotten on this site, I know I would be.

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You can try to look through his member profile and check out his posts.

 

There should also be a way to pull up the thousands of posts he made on this site to develop some kind of profile of him for your essay.  Maybe the admin of the site can help you with that.

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