R.I.P. Paul Ash (Sniffyo)

General Yo-Yo
81

I am deeply shocked and saddened. It was only a week or so ago when I talked to him about the Sniffy Conversation series. It is hard to lose anyone, no matter whether they are family, friends, or just people you know. Nothing will change that. His importance in the community only makes this more tragic. It’s one of those things where there’s no way to truly express your sadness through words. I still don’t think it’s quite sunk into my brain yet that he’s gone. I will miss his friendly presence around the forums, his great ideas, his awesome videos, his giveaways, and all the other things he did for our community. I hope that his name will not be forgotten, for he has been one of the nicest people I’ve seen on the forums, and from what others say, he was just as kind in real life.

Rest in Peace, Paul

You will be greatly missed.

82

That is a crying shame…

Did not know him, but I sincerely hope he’s in a far better place now.

The worse thing you can take from a human being, is Hope…

83

Woah.

Shocking news to hear. Sniffy, rest in peace, and thank you for your amazing contributions to this community. You will forever be missed, thank you again for all you have done for this community.

To whoever said that the Sniffy Conversation Series should be continued, I completely agree with you and I think that is a great idea. We could do it in his honor and finish what he started. I think that would be a really great way to honor him. We should get in touch with all the people who were involved in the project and see if we can start it up again.

Again, Paul, thank you for everything you have done. You will be missed.

-Spencer Reynen

84

I was trying to refrain from posting but I must. RIP Paul, and I always hate to see someone commit suicide. I have obviously never felt much pain, but I cant imagine the pain you must be in to even contemplate it, especially to actually do it. And to the post quoted above, that is rather selfish. Its like going to a rich 2nd cousins funeral who you didn’t know and just asking, “Who gets the money and his house?”, then leaving. I am going to be honest, I never actually finished one of his reviews as they were too long for my taste, but they were obviously making a big impact on the community, and I truly wish someone could have known…

85

I say we start brain storming within the community to keep his conversations series going.

86

Very saddened by this news. Whenever I was considering a new yoyo I would always check and see if Sniffy had done a review on it. I could always count on in-depth review with the detailed sniffy touch. Not sure what else to say. I for one will miss all that.

87

…heartbreaking. :-[

88

He died? :cry:

89

I am speechless as so many people here
RIP Sniffy.

Respectfully, these links have already been removed from earlier posts.

Agree that this is a sad day indeed.

vegabomb

90

He is in a better place now. Feel really sad even i did not know him personally, but his reviews are what I go to when I want a new throw. He was also one of the only 5 or 6 people that I follow on twitter. He will be missed but never forgotten. Not good bye, but see you later.

91

Thats such a shock. I saw that he hasn’t posted videos in a while and started to wonder If he was ok. Paul will be missed very much. Rest in Peace.

92

Take this time to go and find your mother, your father, your siblings, your aunts and uncles, and just hold them. Life is a very delicate thing that can be gone in a second.

Suicide is a hard topic for me to talk about, I’ve lost friends and family to themselves, and I’ve talked countless others off of the edge, people who you’d never think had a care in the world, too. Just, don’t bottle yourself up guys. Talk it out, feel your emotions. I know, it’s weird to hear this coming from a sarcastic jerk like me, but this is serious stuff. Men are trained to hide emotions and not feel anything but anger, and that isn’t healthy. I’ll big honest, I’m a big crier, and I’m not ashamed. We all wear masks in our day to day lives, but sometimes we need to shed the masks and just be true to one another, and we can cut down on tragedies like these.

That being said, if you’re ever in that place and need someone to talk to, call 1-800-273-8255. Or email me. I may be a jerk on the forums, but come to me with a problem, or even just needing someone to talk to, I’ll always be here for you. I don’t judge you, and I’ll even be a friend to you. I know it can be hard to share your feelings with people in your life, because I’ve been through a lot of that before. But trust me, it gets better.

Rest Well, Sniffy, you’ll be missed.

3 Likes
93

I broke down when I heard about this.

I was not close to Paul, other than some brief interactions on the forums here and there, and little comments on videos we exchanged. But regardless of how well I knew him, this whole thing really hit me hard, because I was at that place he found himself in. About two years ago, I was very close to taking my life, things had just gotten to a breaking point and I felt I had no options left. Its a miracle and blessing I am still alive today, but it really makes me sad to think that someone else was going through this same thing, but didn’t reach out to anyone to express these feelings and talk about what was going on inside, cause ultimately, that is what saved me.

I dont want to sound like a broken record or replay of a tape of what others said but please, please, please, if any of you find yourself in this same state, please talk to someone, anyone, there are people out there who will help. Paul’s situation, unfortunately, he didn’t reach out, and honestly oh my gosh I can understand, sometimes you may not feel like reaching out, you feel like people will think less of you and you’ll feel even worse, but please oh my gosh this isn’t true.

I find myself totally broken down, nobodies life should end like that, Paul’s life should not have ended in this way, but whats done is done. As a community, its a call to us that we really need to be supportive of each other, be close, keep each other strong.

Some may remember back in 05 when we lost Ryan Houdini Monson to the same fate, and it sent a shockwave through the community, but it made many of us closer, and more of us reached out to each other in times of need. This is just a terrible reminder that we must continue to do this. Not a reminder we would ever wish of, but a reminder nonetheless.

RIP Paul, I never got to know you, and now I guess I never will. I just wish I could have done something, said something, if I had only known, cause I know oh so terribly too well of what you were going through was like. Im so terribly sorry.

You’ll forever live on in our hearts.

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RIP…

Haru

2 Likes
94

I’ll take this chance to add my voice to the chorus of people singing praises about Paul. He was one of my favorite members and I loved watching his videos and reading thoughts. He’ll certainly be missed both on this forum and in my heart.

Suicide is as touchy a topic as one can be, but after reading his final thoughts I feel nothing but sympathy for him and his family. He clearly deserved much better than what he got and I’m kicking myself for not being more vocal about my support of his trade. I’m sure we all wish we’d sent him a nice message or been more friendly.

Events like this teach me how fragile life can be and lucky we all are to have it.

95

I’m posting on here in the hope that Paul will be able to read this.

Paul, Thank you for everything you’ve done. I only knew you on twitter and through your blog, but you have had a HUGE impact on me in this community. You were the first person in this community to really make me feel welcomed. You sought out talking to me and we would have excellent conversations over twitter. I will miss those conversations. I will miss you. It’s been said on here already Paul, but it wasn’t just the yoyo community that lost an amazing man, but your family and the world lost one as well. You will be missed by many Paul. R.I.P. I only hope you know how many peoples lives you touched.

Tucker.

96

Deepest sympathies to Paul’s Family & Friends… He was one of the first people to ever welcome my late entrance into this wonderful community. Bless him & his journey. Such a terrible loss. Even though most of us didn’t know him personally… We will all feel his absence… RIP Paul … See you on the other side my friend !

97

You guys made me cry :confused:

98

A good man has passed, and is better off, and comfortable now. He will be missed by us all. Thank you Paul for your contribution to the yoyo community.

With love and care towards his family and friends,

~Chris Severson

99

I did not know him personally; I only knew him through his blog and videos, as well as his occasional posts on the forums. Even still, opening up facebook this morning and seeing the news on my dash hit me particularly hard. Paul, you will be missed.

100

Thanks for everything, Paul.
We’ll miss you around.