Paper-Bytes

My name is Betsy.  I am the beloved wife of Rhuen for 28 years.

His sudden death has been a terrible shock and intensely sad.  He died instantly from ???  He had numerous medical tests  due to some unrelenting side pain in the months prior to his death and nothing was found to be life threatening.  A "catch me if you can scenario".

I will be re-establishing Rhuen’s PaperBytes website.  It was very important to him to put his thoughts and writings out into the internet world. The Paper Bytes website was a trial run for him to establish his writing and develop some of his ideas.  He had been in the midst of planning to write a series of scifi/ political books, which he was hoping to finalize in the next few years.  But I guess death interfered with the plans.  I will be pulling together his poems, letters and essays over the next months and releasing them in some way, either over the internet, or book form.

Rhuen was a man of integrity and intense honesty.  He demanded full disclosure from all.  It was what he held most sacred in his life.  This website is about that:being honest with anyone who dares to read it, and dares anyone who reads it to delve into their own honesty and integrity.

Rhuen was a very thoughtful and kind man. He had a generosity that just flowed out of him. He was compassionate without thinking.  He was always quick to make  contact with people anywhere we went, stores, streets, anyone we ran into.

He had a passion for technology that was unfounded, and through- out our life together, he gave away numerous computers and technology to those who did not have any.  He believed technology leveled the playing field, and that all people could learn, and express themselves better when they had decent technology.

Rhuen was a Zen Buddhist and loved philosophical debate.  He could easily deconstruct anyone’s thinking process.  If you felt sure of what you believed in, you never were sure after you spent an hour discussing the universe with Rhuen. I always marveled how people who talked with him for any length of time inevitably walked away with dark circles under their eyes. I called it Rhuened😊 He was a very creative man, and highly intelligent.  He loved puzzling things together, and could figure out complex ideas in minutes, (while most of us were just beginning to scratch our heads).  He thought extremely quickly.

It is hard for me to describe my wonderful husband.  He was so many rich and wonderful things to me and to those who would be part of his world.  He was not an ‘easy man’, but he was well worth the effort.  If you missed your chance , I am sorry you did.  He would have changed your life forever as he did mine.

Rhuen  loved to tell Zen stories. 

This one was originally told to us by one of our favorite friends, Dan the homeless guy.

There were  2 Zen masters at a hotdog stand.  They both ordered hotdogs and gave the vendor $20 for their food.  The vendor thanked them and went about his business.

One of the Zen masters then asked "What about my change?"  whereupon the vendor answered  "Change comes from within".

Rhuen Phreed passed away suddenly 12/21/18.