I will miss Chris Ceraolo.
Sometimes, I have mentioned Chris Ceraolo. Some of you know that she was the long-time head of VIP Registration for Dragon*Con. Some knew her as a VIP Tour Guide at Universal Orlando, who apparently was close to becoming a supervisor of the department. And a few of you knew that for almost two years she was battling ovarian cancer.
She lost this battle sometime last week.
I'm writing this, frankly, for two reasons. The personal reason is that I tried to contact her over the last year, since I got my job at Universal, and tried to arrange a meeting with her. She pushed me off.
First of all, I was not trying to "suck up" to her. Over the phone she did give me some counseling about how to work, how to handle problem guests, how to be a better worker. But I was not looking for some kind of bennie from a highly-placed person at the company.
I knew Chris, on and off, for a long time. She was a wonderful person. I was older than she was, and I would have never been in a relationship with her. (Or anybody, of course.) Because I was associated with Jeffrey Cisneros, a person who polluted every relationship he was in (including with me) my relationship with Chris suffered a long, stony silence. I didn't know how to make up with her, and my occasional phone calls over the last year was an attempt to make up for it. An attempt which was a failure.
I didn't realize, until it was too late, that Chris was refusing contact for more than just how she must have looked, what chemotherepy had done to her hair and her body. She probably knew she was dying, and didn't want to bring gloom to me or to others.
I wouldn't have been gloomy. I would have felt I was doing something important to help her.
Okay, that's the first reason. The second is that I have searched and searched for e-mails, supposedly sent by the local science fiction club OASFiS about Chris's death, and couldn't find any.
There are certain individuals who drove Chris out of local fandom. I won't repeat gossip or make anything public. Those individuals are well known in Central Florida fandom, although they aren't conscious enough about their interpersonal problems to know they are responsible. Chris did not "snub" local conventions, where her expertise in dealing with people and her natural charm would have been useful. She went where she was wanted, appreciated and not harangued, and Dragon*Con was where it was.
But as an important person in Orlando fandom - in my modest opinion, the most important person - her passing should have been mentioned. I was phoned by my friend Deb Canady. She apparently heard by phone. In a slight attempt to make up for it, I wanted to mention Chris in this message.
Some might feel it stupid or pretentious to believe in an afterlife, but I do. And I think Chris is mostly happy now, although I think she'll be concerned enough about Dragon*Con's VIP department to hover there during the 2011 convention. And if she can communicate to the living, I hope she'll pop a good idea into my head every time I face a difficulty at Universal. And right now, I think she's going to be the only friendly ghost at Universal Orlando during Halloween Horror Nights, and she won't have to pay to get in.
She lost this battle sometime last week.
I'm writing this, frankly, for two reasons. The personal reason is that I tried to contact her over the last year, since I got my job at Universal, and tried to arrange a meeting with her. She pushed me off.
First of all, I was not trying to "suck up" to her. Over the phone she did give me some counseling about how to work, how to handle problem guests, how to be a better worker. But I was not looking for some kind of bennie from a highly-placed person at the company.
I knew Chris, on and off, for a long time. She was a wonderful person. I was older than she was, and I would have never been in a relationship with her. (Or anybody, of course.) Because I was associated with Jeffrey Cisneros, a person who polluted every relationship he was in (including with me) my relationship with Chris suffered a long, stony silence. I didn't know how to make up with her, and my occasional phone calls over the last year was an attempt to make up for it. An attempt which was a failure.
I didn't realize, until it was too late, that Chris was refusing contact for more than just how she must have looked, what chemotherepy had done to her hair and her body. She probably knew she was dying, and didn't want to bring gloom to me or to others.
I wouldn't have been gloomy. I would have felt I was doing something important to help her.
Okay, that's the first reason. The second is that I have searched and searched for e-mails, supposedly sent by the local science fiction club OASFiS about Chris's death, and couldn't find any.
There are certain individuals who drove Chris out of local fandom. I won't repeat gossip or make anything public. Those individuals are well known in Central Florida fandom, although they aren't conscious enough about their interpersonal problems to know they are responsible. Chris did not "snub" local conventions, where her expertise in dealing with people and her natural charm would have been useful. She went where she was wanted, appreciated and not harangued, and Dragon*Con was where it was.
But as an important person in Orlando fandom - in my modest opinion, the most important person - her passing should have been mentioned. I was phoned by my friend Deb Canady. She apparently heard by phone. In a slight attempt to make up for it, I wanted to mention Chris in this message.
Some might feel it stupid or pretentious to believe in an afterlife, but I do. And I think Chris is mostly happy now, although I think she'll be concerned enough about Dragon*Con's VIP department to hover there during the 2011 convention. And if she can communicate to the living, I hope she'll pop a good idea into my head every time I face a difficulty at Universal. And right now, I think she's going to be the only friendly ghost at Universal Orlando during Halloween Horror Nights, and she won't have to pay to get in.