Sorry to hear about your friend. He seemed one of kind and most likely you will never have such a friend again. Never try to forget him, it just won´t work. Try to remember as many good things as possible and thank him for having made your life richer ...
As for Amiga.org, this is totally different then pc boards, we are all not only devoted to the Amiga itself but also to the community. This forum is here to help eachother and not only at soft and hardware but in this case also emotionally. When you see so many time ´sorry to hear about your friend´ then these guys mean it !!