Today, the Wynonna Earp community learned that we lost one of the best of us today.

Jeannie, who most of us knew as Bionic_Geek, lost her battle with cancer today, a battle that a lot of us had no idea she was fighting.

I’d love to be able to pepper this blog with pictures of Jeannie and me together, but I don’t have any. We chatted on Twitter occasionally, we’d talk if we were at a con, but we never grabbed any photos together. I guess I always figured there’d be a next time, another opportunity.

One of the last times we saw each other, Jeannie asked about my writing. I wasn’t in a great place, honestly. I was recapping, but I’d received some “colorful” comments on what I wrote and saw some pretty nasty things people had said about me. I wasn’t sure if I’d continue with recaps or write much of anything anymore, really. And she looked me in the eye and said she couldn’t really speak for anyone else, but anything I wrote, it would always have a fan in her. She made sure I knew that she loved reading what I had to say, and no matter what it was, she would read it.

Every single thing I’ve written from that day on, I’ve thought of Jeannie. Every. Single. Thing. Because if nothing else, those words I put on the page would bring at least one person joy, and that was enough for me.

All of that from a single act of kindness.

I’ve read a lot of the responses people have had to her dying, and it’s clear she really made an impact on a lot of us. I hope she knew — that her kindness touched so many people, that so many people will forever think of her fondly, and that those few words she said to me all those years ago changed my life for the better. If she didn’t know then, and if there’s something after all of…this, I hope she knows now.

I’m going to make a donation in Jeannie (Smith’s) name, and here’s the info for two organizations she supported if you’d like to do the same:

Justice Education Society Vancouver

Holmberg Hospice House Abbotsford

Cons won’t be the same without you, Jeannie. Selfishly speaking, thank you for giving me the confidence to see past the haters to the supporters. You will never, ever be forgotten.

I hope you liked this one, too.

E4L.