As Time Goes By
Dear diary,
It's odd how fast time goes by. I was supposed to write earlier but somehow I ended up postponing it day after day, week after week, until I realized it's already April of 2015. So much stuff has happened since the last time I wrote, and I don't know if I can even remember to include all of it, but I'll try to even if the subjects will vary a lot. I guess what I should do is just divide the entry into multiple smaller entries over multiple days so as not to burn myself out trying to get everything off my chest in one go.
I visited my sister in Tampere 12 September 2014, and we went to a Final Fantasy themed concert called "Final Symphony" in Tampere-talo, one of the prestigious music houses in our country. It had attracted quite a few youths but also people our age and even older folks (some who were dressed in very expensive clothes so I expect them to have been some of the city's musical elite), which surprised me quite a bit. I was even more surprised by how the Final Fantasy 6 soundtrack, which the receptionists were selling, had already sold out by the time we got there even though they had over a hundred copies. Nice to see that oldschool FF is getting people of all ages curious. What made the concert particularly interesting to me is that Jonne Valtonen, one of my relatives via my other sister's marriage, actually orchestrated and arranged pieces from FF6, FF7 and FF10 into symphonic movements with help from Roger Wanamo. Jonne's become rather famous among music circles for his work on the Symphonic series (Shades, Legends, Odysseys etc.), but this was his first time bringing game music arrangements to Finland. In fact, I think this was the first time game music was played by a respected and well-known orchestra in our country.
The pieces played in the concert if you want to listen to any of them.
The concert consisted of the following:
- Fantasy Overture - Circle within a Circle within a Circle (an original piece)
- FF6 - Symphonic Poem: Born with the Gift of Magic
- FF10 - Piano Concerto
- FF10 - Suteki da ne (Bonus arrangement)
- Intermission
- FF7 - Symphony in Three Movements:
I Nibelheim Incident
II Words Drowned by Fireworks
III Planet's Crisis
- Continue?
- Encore (one of the FF fight themes with some hints at other themes) (Bonus)
The overture was basic Jonne stuff, pompous and quite resonating in the great hall of Tampere-talo. The FF6 symphonic poem, however, was one of if not THE piece that I enjoyed the most. Instead of being your typical suite, it was composed like a symphonic poem should: weaving themes in and out, changing them from minor to major modes with tempo changes etc. all to tell a story via music alone. It was a fine arrangement and made me relive the time I played FF6 for the first time in high school.
FF10 Piano Concerto was quite pretty, particularly the sweeping "To Zanarkand" portion. We were all surprised by the surprise piano and orchestra rendition of "Suteki da ne" just before the intermission; it was a bonus track not mentioned on the leaflet, and was a good way to end the first half of the concert. Mischa Cheung played the piece well.
After the intermission, and a few refreshments like champagne which we were served, we returned to our seats and enjoy the rest of the musical evening. The second half had the biggest orchestral piece in the entire set: the 40-odd minute FF7 Symphony in Three Movements. Not having played FF7, I missed many of the musical references, but I did take note of some major storytelling moments I'd seen my friend Sephiroth1999AD play. The Symphony was composed with skill, using the orchestra to its fullest. Like the FF6 Symphonic Poem, it was its own entity, using variations of FF7 themes to tell a story through a musical canvas. You hear the main theme, Sephiroth's theme, Tifa and Aerith and so forth, each theme contributing to the whole to give a satisfying musical experience. I really liked the piano's role in the symphony and how it occasionally got to shine. People in the audience seemed to resonate with this piece the most ouf of all the other pieces, so I guess the majority in the concert hall were either FF7 fans or just fans of symphonic movements in general.
The concert's penultimate piece was Continue?, using the FF Game Over theme (with the theme of the Crystals, and Anxious Heart from FF7 OST if my ears didn't deceive me). It was a suitably pretty and somewhat somber piece, a good moment to relax after the emotional drama and action bombast of the previous piece.
The conductor still had one more surprise for us after the whole audience stood up and applauded (this doesn't happen often in Finnish concert halls so I was glad to see how warmly this game concert was received even by music snobs). After we demanded encore, the orchestra played an interesting variation of one of the FF battle themes (which I sadly haven't found in any Final Symphony concert listing on youtube) which also hinted at some other themes. It wasn't necessarily as awesome a way to end the concert but it served its purpose.
At the end we applauded to the orchestra, conductor and soloists, then Jonne and Roger, the orchestrators and composers who were both present, and finally at one of the Square Enix representatives who had graced Finland with his presence. He seemed mighty pleased by the audience's reaction, so I hope this means SE will greenlight more FF symphonic concerts here in the Nordic countries in the future.
All in all the Final Symphony concert was an interesting musical experience, and I'm glad I attended this historic event. What pleased me was that many of the concert hall snobs seemed to like this music despite having no idea about the games the tunes were based on, so perhaps Jonne and his kin will help bridge the gap between "respected" classical music and these orchestrated pieces inspired by game music. It's a lot of work thanks to elite's prejudices but perhaps we'll see improvements someday.
Before tackling a weightier subject, I just want to write something else down. I recently happened upon something disturbing while browsing EoFF forums. A person I had considered a friend had in fact been publicly badmouthing me on the forums, criticizing my writings among other things. He's not around anymore after he got into an argument with the staff (from what I understand from his wall comments, anyway; he hasn't really posted since late 2014 or so based on his profile so something must've happened, possibly because he and his girlfriend didn't win the Ciddies they thought they deserved).
I personally don't mind criticism as long as it's constructive and as long as it's not mentioned behind my back because that's just bad form. After all, despite being a future English major, I know I make grammar mistakes at times, and I'm more than happy to get feedback so I can improve my writing and thus get my point across to people better than before. I know I tend to have Finnish-isms in my text and even if I like to imagine my English skills being above the average Finn due to being a language student specializing in English, I know I still have a long way to go despite over two decades of studying.
But for whatever reason, this guy chose to complain about me and my skills as a writer to BoB and several other oldbies based on his wall posts among other things, and I find that very confusing and sad. Despite several others clearly understanding my writings, this person who shall not be named simply stated that what I wrote was incomprehensible with several attribution errors among othr things, and that he, as a native speaker and a so-called language expert due to his background, knows this to be true. Had he really had the best intentions in mind as a friend should, he should've just PMed me and voiced his concerns instead of just trying to create public drama out of it. And the funny thing is that the people on whose walls and threads he posted about it never actually responded to his writings, at least not publicly.
It just annoys me that stuff like this happens behind my back; I despise gossiping and badmouthing people in general, especially if it's done "in the dark". If you want to offer criticism, preferably the constructive kind, at least have the balls to say it to my face instead of acting all friendly in front of me and then pissing on me when my attention is elsewhere. I won't get mad as long as you're polite and not an ass, and yet this person's behaviour now makes him look like the latter. It really lowered my respect of him, especially since he knows that I study English as my major and that I take grammar matters very seriously (even if my writings in free time will never be as rigorously checked as my academic essays will be for obvious reasons).
I realize this is a growing trend on EoFF in general but I hope it won't be anything permanent (or at least it'll only affect a few people). Several EoFFers who used to be friendly have been acting in an asinine manner in chat or on forums lately, and I notice some unrest among newbies because of this. I don't know exactly what has been making some veteran members lash out in such a manner these past few years, including this person who used to be a lot more constructive and nicer before his career kicked in and he got on a high horse, so to speak, but I wonder if them "growing up" has something to do with it. But if you don't feel like EoFF is your thing or you have some other problems in your life, don't go stabbing other people in the back like that and making them lose trust in you.
I know this person will likely never read this but even if he stumbles on my LJ, I'll leave this open for him to see anyway. I'll keep an eye on his potential future return to EoFF, and if that day dawns, I'll be there confront him about this. Perhaps he'll be like some people who, after getting out of a tough phase in their lives, actually owns up to his misbehaviour and finally grows up instead of bitching about things in a disrespectful manner. I know the issue is mostly irrelevant, but it's not just the subject but the act that saddens me. I thought better of him, but he chose to prove me wrong. =/
And now it's time to address an issue that has been weighing on my mind for some time now. Perhaps my difficulties putting it into words has been one of the reasons why it's taken me so long to post here.
After mom and I got back from visiting sis in Tampere (the following night after the FF concert), we learned a terrible piece of news from my aunt who called us. My cousin's son Jussi had committed suicide by jumping off the roof of a building in the city centre after a wild night at a nightclub. He perished a few hours after he'd been taken to the hospital, and left behind his girlfriend and their 1-year-old daughter.
This news was shocking, and none of us wanted to believe it at first. After all, Jussi had been in the army at the same time as I had been, and he had become a father and had a pretty and kind wife plus a job with which he earned a pretty penny or two, and lots of great friends he often spent time with. As far as my other cousins told me, he'd never had any suicidal tendencies before, and he wasn't known to take drugs either. In fact, he was supposed to meet his big brothers on the following Thursday, and yet he committed suicide on a Saturday night.
I began questioning why someone like Jussi would want to commit suicide. I learned the following: he and his girlfriend Sara had been at a bar and gotten drunk, and at some point they'd had an argument about something. Jussi had gotten upset and left (not sure if he'd threatened to kill himself out loud then, or if he just babbled about something else; eyewitnesses gave conflicting testimonies, and their memories of the night are hazy). Not long after getting out of the bar, Jussi went behind the house, somehow managed to access what should've been a blocked staircase which only the staff could use in case of emergency. He climbed up the roof and then apparently began yelling to the pedestrians down below that he was going to jump. Someone called the cops, and I'm not sure if they got firefighters there too. I assume at this point Sara got outside too, pleading Jussi to come down. I don't know what exchange took place outside, but I know this: Jussi backed down after the police had told him to, then appeared on the edge again and leaped forward, falling down (either on asphalt or on a car), crushing his skull with nasty results. He was still alive when the ambulance came and drove him to the hospital but passed away a few hours later from what I understand. I heard some rumours that Sara might've had an affair with someone and Jussi had found out or was simply jealous. I've never talked with him when he's drunk, so I don't know how he acted while drunk; we weren't exactly the closest relatives although we did exchange words during birthday and holiday parties and in the army).
Whatever the truth of the matter is, I doubt we'll ever know unless Sara ever tells us what happened. But considering how shocked she was and still is about it, I don't think she'll ever discuss it ever again with anyone. But would jealousy really drive Jussi into suicide? If his parents and brothers claim he never showed signs of mental illness or any symptoms of depression, what exactly could've caused such a scene? What prompted him to climb all the way up and the deliberately stay there until the police's arrival triggered something? Or did Sara say something to him from down below which made him more desperate to jump? Surely he must've thought about his daughter too, let alone what his parents and brothers and the rest of us would think? It's horrible to even think about, but I want to because I want to try to understand what prompted him to do so.
Jussi's mother was a horrible mess, the worst I've ever seen her. She could barely walk and speak and had to take a sick leave which lasted months. Whenever Jussi's name was brought up, she burst into tears, and this lasted for months, even after his funeral. His dad was a mess too but in a different way, talking to himself and drinking a lot. Jussi's big brother Marko...he was close to falling into the same pit until I confronted him while at work and told him to not drink his sorrows away; I instead sent him to talk to mom which he, surprisingly enough, did, and started getting sober afterwards. Mom was doing her best to calm aunt down about what had happened, and my siblings weren't exactly cheerful either. I had to persevere and continue posting at tGA and working and studying while dealing with the aftereffects of the suicide as I attempted to rationalize it all. It's an experience I hope no one has to face because it forces you to confront deep and dark issues about yourself and others who you thought you knew but actually knew nothing about.
I still wonder if I could've done something to help Jussi had I not gone to the FF concert and if I'd gone clubbing that weekend as I intended before plans changed. Maybe I could've run into Jussi and Sara, perhaps spend time with them and notice that something was off about Jussi. Maybe I could've talked him out of jumping off the roof as I'm known as the diplomat in our family. Or maybe I would've failed anyway no matter what I did. If his family and friends didn't notice anything wrong about him, then I, who only periodically saw him, wouldn't necessarily have noticed anything off about him either. I know this isn't my fault or anyone else's, but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. If only I could understand why he did what he did so I could come to terms with the fact that he chose his fate.
At the very least dozens of his friends attended his funeral, the most friends I've ever seen in anyone's funeral (at least from our family). It showed that no matter what, Jussi had left his mark on many people. He may be gone, but the memory of him lives on in our hearts as long as we live and remember him and his deeds. And, on a more positive note, he left behind a daughter so even if she never fully got to know her father, she wouldn't have been born into this world if it weren't for him. And that, in and of itself, is one of the grestest honours anyone can ever have.
Sleep well, Jussi. I hope you've found peace, wherever you are.
There's a lot more to write about, but for now I think the weighty subject will speak for itself. Until next time, and hopefully on a happier note.
Yours,
Mikko
It's odd how fast time goes by. I was supposed to write earlier but somehow I ended up postponing it day after day, week after week, until I realized it's already April of 2015. So much stuff has happened since the last time I wrote, and I don't know if I can even remember to include all of it, but I'll try to even if the subjects will vary a lot. I guess what I should do is just divide the entry into multiple smaller entries over multiple days so as not to burn myself out trying to get everything off my chest in one go.
I visited my sister in Tampere 12 September 2014, and we went to a Final Fantasy themed concert called "Final Symphony" in Tampere-talo, one of the prestigious music houses in our country. It had attracted quite a few youths but also people our age and even older folks (some who were dressed in very expensive clothes so I expect them to have been some of the city's musical elite), which surprised me quite a bit. I was even more surprised by how the Final Fantasy 6 soundtrack, which the receptionists were selling, had already sold out by the time we got there even though they had over a hundred copies. Nice to see that oldschool FF is getting people of all ages curious. What made the concert particularly interesting to me is that Jonne Valtonen, one of my relatives via my other sister's marriage, actually orchestrated and arranged pieces from FF6, FF7 and FF10 into symphonic movements with help from Roger Wanamo. Jonne's become rather famous among music circles for his work on the Symphonic series (Shades, Legends, Odysseys etc.), but this was his first time bringing game music arrangements to Finland. In fact, I think this was the first time game music was played by a respected and well-known orchestra in our country.
The pieces played in the concert if you want to listen to any of them.
The concert consisted of the following:
- Fantasy Overture - Circle within a Circle within a Circle (an original piece)
- FF6 - Symphonic Poem: Born with the Gift of Magic
- FF10 - Piano Concerto
- FF10 - Suteki da ne (Bonus arrangement)
- Intermission
- FF7 - Symphony in Three Movements:
I Nibelheim Incident
II Words Drowned by Fireworks
III Planet's Crisis
- Continue?
- Encore (one of the FF fight themes with some hints at other themes) (Bonus)
The overture was basic Jonne stuff, pompous and quite resonating in the great hall of Tampere-talo. The FF6 symphonic poem, however, was one of if not THE piece that I enjoyed the most. Instead of being your typical suite, it was composed like a symphonic poem should: weaving themes in and out, changing them from minor to major modes with tempo changes etc. all to tell a story via music alone. It was a fine arrangement and made me relive the time I played FF6 for the first time in high school.
FF10 Piano Concerto was quite pretty, particularly the sweeping "To Zanarkand" portion. We were all surprised by the surprise piano and orchestra rendition of "Suteki da ne" just before the intermission; it was a bonus track not mentioned on the leaflet, and was a good way to end the first half of the concert. Mischa Cheung played the piece well.
After the intermission, and a few refreshments like champagne which we were served, we returned to our seats and enjoy the rest of the musical evening. The second half had the biggest orchestral piece in the entire set: the 40-odd minute FF7 Symphony in Three Movements. Not having played FF7, I missed many of the musical references, but I did take note of some major storytelling moments I'd seen my friend Sephiroth1999AD play. The Symphony was composed with skill, using the orchestra to its fullest. Like the FF6 Symphonic Poem, it was its own entity, using variations of FF7 themes to tell a story through a musical canvas. You hear the main theme, Sephiroth's theme, Tifa and Aerith and so forth, each theme contributing to the whole to give a satisfying musical experience. I really liked the piano's role in the symphony and how it occasionally got to shine. People in the audience seemed to resonate with this piece the most ouf of all the other pieces, so I guess the majority in the concert hall were either FF7 fans or just fans of symphonic movements in general.
The concert's penultimate piece was Continue?, using the FF Game Over theme (with the theme of the Crystals, and Anxious Heart from FF7 OST if my ears didn't deceive me). It was a suitably pretty and somewhat somber piece, a good moment to relax after the emotional drama and action bombast of the previous piece.
The conductor still had one more surprise for us after the whole audience stood up and applauded (this doesn't happen often in Finnish concert halls so I was glad to see how warmly this game concert was received even by music snobs). After we demanded encore, the orchestra played an interesting variation of one of the FF battle themes (which I sadly haven't found in any Final Symphony concert listing on youtube) which also hinted at some other themes. It wasn't necessarily as awesome a way to end the concert but it served its purpose.
At the end we applauded to the orchestra, conductor and soloists, then Jonne and Roger, the orchestrators and composers who were both present, and finally at one of the Square Enix representatives who had graced Finland with his presence. He seemed mighty pleased by the audience's reaction, so I hope this means SE will greenlight more FF symphonic concerts here in the Nordic countries in the future.
All in all the Final Symphony concert was an interesting musical experience, and I'm glad I attended this historic event. What pleased me was that many of the concert hall snobs seemed to like this music despite having no idea about the games the tunes were based on, so perhaps Jonne and his kin will help bridge the gap between "respected" classical music and these orchestrated pieces inspired by game music. It's a lot of work thanks to elite's prejudices but perhaps we'll see improvements someday.
Before tackling a weightier subject, I just want to write something else down. I recently happened upon something disturbing while browsing EoFF forums. A person I had considered a friend had in fact been publicly badmouthing me on the forums, criticizing my writings among other things. He's not around anymore after he got into an argument with the staff (from what I understand from his wall comments, anyway; he hasn't really posted since late 2014 or so based on his profile so something must've happened, possibly because he and his girlfriend didn't win the Ciddies they thought they deserved).
I personally don't mind criticism as long as it's constructive and as long as it's not mentioned behind my back because that's just bad form. After all, despite being a future English major, I know I make grammar mistakes at times, and I'm more than happy to get feedback so I can improve my writing and thus get my point across to people better than before. I know I tend to have Finnish-isms in my text and even if I like to imagine my English skills being above the average Finn due to being a language student specializing in English, I know I still have a long way to go despite over two decades of studying.
But for whatever reason, this guy chose to complain about me and my skills as a writer to BoB and several other oldbies based on his wall posts among other things, and I find that very confusing and sad. Despite several others clearly understanding my writings, this person who shall not be named simply stated that what I wrote was incomprehensible with several attribution errors among othr things, and that he, as a native speaker and a so-called language expert due to his background, knows this to be true. Had he really had the best intentions in mind as a friend should, he should've just PMed me and voiced his concerns instead of just trying to create public drama out of it. And the funny thing is that the people on whose walls and threads he posted about it never actually responded to his writings, at least not publicly.
It just annoys me that stuff like this happens behind my back; I despise gossiping and badmouthing people in general, especially if it's done "in the dark". If you want to offer criticism, preferably the constructive kind, at least have the balls to say it to my face instead of acting all friendly in front of me and then pissing on me when my attention is elsewhere. I won't get mad as long as you're polite and not an ass, and yet this person's behaviour now makes him look like the latter. It really lowered my respect of him, especially since he knows that I study English as my major and that I take grammar matters very seriously (even if my writings in free time will never be as rigorously checked as my academic essays will be for obvious reasons).
I realize this is a growing trend on EoFF in general but I hope it won't be anything permanent (or at least it'll only affect a few people). Several EoFFers who used to be friendly have been acting in an asinine manner in chat or on forums lately, and I notice some unrest among newbies because of this. I don't know exactly what has been making some veteran members lash out in such a manner these past few years, including this person who used to be a lot more constructive and nicer before his career kicked in and he got on a high horse, so to speak, but I wonder if them "growing up" has something to do with it. But if you don't feel like EoFF is your thing or you have some other problems in your life, don't go stabbing other people in the back like that and making them lose trust in you.
I know this person will likely never read this but even if he stumbles on my LJ, I'll leave this open for him to see anyway. I'll keep an eye on his potential future return to EoFF, and if that day dawns, I'll be there confront him about this. Perhaps he'll be like some people who, after getting out of a tough phase in their lives, actually owns up to his misbehaviour and finally grows up instead of bitching about things in a disrespectful manner. I know the issue is mostly irrelevant, but it's not just the subject but the act that saddens me. I thought better of him, but he chose to prove me wrong. =/
And now it's time to address an issue that has been weighing on my mind for some time now. Perhaps my difficulties putting it into words has been one of the reasons why it's taken me so long to post here.
After mom and I got back from visiting sis in Tampere (the following night after the FF concert), we learned a terrible piece of news from my aunt who called us. My cousin's son Jussi had committed suicide by jumping off the roof of a building in the city centre after a wild night at a nightclub. He perished a few hours after he'd been taken to the hospital, and left behind his girlfriend and their 1-year-old daughter.
This news was shocking, and none of us wanted to believe it at first. After all, Jussi had been in the army at the same time as I had been, and he had become a father and had a pretty and kind wife plus a job with which he earned a pretty penny or two, and lots of great friends he often spent time with. As far as my other cousins told me, he'd never had any suicidal tendencies before, and he wasn't known to take drugs either. In fact, he was supposed to meet his big brothers on the following Thursday, and yet he committed suicide on a Saturday night.
I began questioning why someone like Jussi would want to commit suicide. I learned the following: he and his girlfriend Sara had been at a bar and gotten drunk, and at some point they'd had an argument about something. Jussi had gotten upset and left (not sure if he'd threatened to kill himself out loud then, or if he just babbled about something else; eyewitnesses gave conflicting testimonies, and their memories of the night are hazy). Not long after getting out of the bar, Jussi went behind the house, somehow managed to access what should've been a blocked staircase which only the staff could use in case of emergency. He climbed up the roof and then apparently began yelling to the pedestrians down below that he was going to jump. Someone called the cops, and I'm not sure if they got firefighters there too. I assume at this point Sara got outside too, pleading Jussi to come down. I don't know what exchange took place outside, but I know this: Jussi backed down after the police had told him to, then appeared on the edge again and leaped forward, falling down (either on asphalt or on a car), crushing his skull with nasty results. He was still alive when the ambulance came and drove him to the hospital but passed away a few hours later from what I understand. I heard some rumours that Sara might've had an affair with someone and Jussi had found out or was simply jealous. I've never talked with him when he's drunk, so I don't know how he acted while drunk; we weren't exactly the closest relatives although we did exchange words during birthday and holiday parties and in the army).
Whatever the truth of the matter is, I doubt we'll ever know unless Sara ever tells us what happened. But considering how shocked she was and still is about it, I don't think she'll ever discuss it ever again with anyone. But would jealousy really drive Jussi into suicide? If his parents and brothers claim he never showed signs of mental illness or any symptoms of depression, what exactly could've caused such a scene? What prompted him to climb all the way up and the deliberately stay there until the police's arrival triggered something? Or did Sara say something to him from down below which made him more desperate to jump? Surely he must've thought about his daughter too, let alone what his parents and brothers and the rest of us would think? It's horrible to even think about, but I want to because I want to try to understand what prompted him to do so.
Jussi's mother was a horrible mess, the worst I've ever seen her. She could barely walk and speak and had to take a sick leave which lasted months. Whenever Jussi's name was brought up, she burst into tears, and this lasted for months, even after his funeral. His dad was a mess too but in a different way, talking to himself and drinking a lot. Jussi's big brother Marko...he was close to falling into the same pit until I confronted him while at work and told him to not drink his sorrows away; I instead sent him to talk to mom which he, surprisingly enough, did, and started getting sober afterwards. Mom was doing her best to calm aunt down about what had happened, and my siblings weren't exactly cheerful either. I had to persevere and continue posting at tGA and working and studying while dealing with the aftereffects of the suicide as I attempted to rationalize it all. It's an experience I hope no one has to face because it forces you to confront deep and dark issues about yourself and others who you thought you knew but actually knew nothing about.
I still wonder if I could've done something to help Jussi had I not gone to the FF concert and if I'd gone clubbing that weekend as I intended before plans changed. Maybe I could've run into Jussi and Sara, perhaps spend time with them and notice that something was off about Jussi. Maybe I could've talked him out of jumping off the roof as I'm known as the diplomat in our family. Or maybe I would've failed anyway no matter what I did. If his family and friends didn't notice anything wrong about him, then I, who only periodically saw him, wouldn't necessarily have noticed anything off about him either. I know this isn't my fault or anyone else's, but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. If only I could understand why he did what he did so I could come to terms with the fact that he chose his fate.
At the very least dozens of his friends attended his funeral, the most friends I've ever seen in anyone's funeral (at least from our family). It showed that no matter what, Jussi had left his mark on many people. He may be gone, but the memory of him lives on in our hearts as long as we live and remember him and his deeds. And, on a more positive note, he left behind a daughter so even if she never fully got to know her father, she wouldn't have been born into this world if it weren't for him. And that, in and of itself, is one of the grestest honours anyone can ever have.
Sleep well, Jussi. I hope you've found peace, wherever you are.
There's a lot more to write about, but for now I think the weighty subject will speak for itself. Until next time, and hopefully on a happier note.
Yours,
Mikko