Monday, March 7, 2011

A Friend You Never Met

Where were you when you heard John Lennon died?
Princess Diana?
Michael Jackson?
Celebrity deaths – especially those that are sudden or violent – hold a certain fascination for many people.  The media will be temporarily obsessed with the story.
But what can seem unusual is the way some people mourn those celebrities – as if they were a close friend.
Why is that?
They’ve never met that particular celebrity, even though they may have bought their cd’s or seen their movies or watched their TV show.
But they mourn.
Jeff Goldblum was a guest on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and suddenly began to talk about the late Tim Russert, moderator of “Meet the Press”.  Goldblum admitted he was upset for two days, when he heard of Russert’s sudden death, because he had felt a connection.
It may be a stretch to call these people ‘friends’.  We all have our own definition of friend, and it generally includes some kind of face-to-face interaction. 
But they are a part of our lives – if only a half-hour a week on TV – part of our routine, part of our experience.  And when they’re gone, a piece of our life is gone.
Mourn them.
Celebrate them.
But remember your real friends, too.

2 comments:

kathleen pooler said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kathleen pooler said...

Hi Vicki,

I can recall in detail the deep sense of grief and emptiness I felt in 1963 when another teacher came to the door as I sat in English class to announce the assassination of JFK. It seemed like we lost a sense of certainty, security and hope that day.

Also, on a personal note, I blogged in actual time the illness,death and funeral of my father over an 11-day period 11/16-12/1/10. It was incredibly healing.

Yes, we must mourn our losses,whether they are loved ones or celebrities who have touched our lives.

Thanks for a thought-provoking post.

Kathy