The family lasagne

What do you do when a virtual friend dies? A friend you’ve never met in real life, but for the past 10 years your engagements with one another on social media have been supportive, mutually admiring and meaningful. Your heart is sore but other than crying and dripping tears over your cracked phone screen while reading the outpourings of love for her on Twitter, there is not much else you can do.

Sindisiwe van Zyl’s death devastated both those who loved her in real life and those (all 290 700) of us who forged friendships with her over the interwebs.

I first “met” Dr Sindi van