Richard Lewis died this week. A lot of people have died in the past year. Sandra Day O'Connor, Henry Kissinger, Rosalynn Carter, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Jim Brown, Tina Turner, Dianne Feinstein, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Buffett, Norman Lear, Cormac McCarthy, David Crosby, Matthew Perry.
People post on Facebook that they are sad. I get it to an extent if you knew or worked with these people and have a personal relationship.
For all the others, you are really sad that there is a loss of innocence. What mattered to you in your youth is now over and it sucks..big time.
We take the icons we know and relate them to a time in our lives. Rosalynn Carter? Woman of integrity. Norman Lear? Broke the barriers. Matthew Perry? Made us laugh. Henry Kissinger? Self-hating Jew. (yeah..sorry..not sorry)
The fact is, when people died whom we knew, loved, and loathed in our lifetime, we face our mortality. A part of us dies when our history dies.
The past few years have really impacted us with loss.
Let’s go down the recent list.
Tom Smothers: funny, irreverent, and spoke his mind politically and got canceled.
Ryan O’Neal: memorable roles, from ‘Peyton Place’ to the others, including ‘Paper Moon.’ A troubled family but a movie icon.
Rosalynn Carter: Her faith was so important to her and she was not the Washington model of sophistication but she introduced a new level of respect and integrity.
Andre’ Braugher: an example of a strong African-American actor in comedy and drama and he made his mark.
Jeff Beck and Harry Belafonte: one a rock and roll rule breaker, the other, a race breaker.
Jimmy Buffet, Raquel Welch, Bob Barker, Jim Brown, Norman Lear, Suzanne Somers, Paul Reubens, Treat Williams, Alan Arkin, Glenda Jackson, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Sizemore, Belzer!, Robbie Bachman, Adam Rich, Gina Lollobrigida and others I have not listed.
We all express our sadness and while we did know them, we knew where we were when we first saw them heard them, and were inspired by them.
We have lost our innocence or maybe, are looking back on the experiences that made us what and who we are today.
Life is short. Immortality is something we do not experience, but the soundtrack of our lives, fades as the years go on.
I say, let’s use these losses not to fear what may lie ahead, as death-and taxes-are inevitable, but to reflect on how we have been shaped by those who are gone and how we have a road map as to how we can live lives with purpose.
Well said. I am suffering from the mortality syndrome! A HS good friend just died
Beautifully written as always. Thank you for your insightfulness .