Too much loss

I am ready for this year to be over. There has been too much death. For me personally it started in April when my uncle (my dad's brother) died of sickle cell anemia. His death was unexpected and heartbreaking. And this summer has been wracked with celebrity deaths. It was bad enough to lose two icons on the same day - Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.  I'm still recovering from the loss of MJ.  But to end the summer with the passing of Patrick Swayze is just too much.  We knew he was fighting a tough battle and the odds weren't in his favor but his death was still a shock.  I read that 95% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within five years. But knowing that statistic didn't lessen the blow when I found out via Twitter that Patrick Swayze had lost his battle with cancer. 

I became a Swayze fan when I saw him in The Outsiders.  His role was minor but I swooned when I saw the older man amongst the teeny bopper actors.  At that time I was all about Ralph Macchio but I kept my eye on Patrick Swayze. The next movie I saw him in was Dirty Dancing. And that's when I really fell in love with him.  It was all over! I'd never seen a white man move like that!  I then watched every movie that Patrick Swayze appeared in. From Youngblood (I love Rob Lowe to this day!) to the North and South miniseries. (I miss miniseries. Network television needs to bring them back), Roadhouse, To Wong Foo and Point Break. And then there's Ghost. I hate movies that make me cry but I fell in love with Ghost. It was the perfect love story. After seeing that movie I couldn't get enough of Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers. And the ending. The wonderful, fantastic ending when Sam finally goes to the "other side" and the music starts playing. Molly starts crying, she had that one tear fall down her face. And then Sam says the BEST LINE EVER-

"It's amazing Molly. The love inside, you take it with you."

 I'm tearing up as I type this. *sigh* .

For me this has been tough. I don't personally know these people but like I said in my Michael Jackson post, when I watch Swayze's movies, I'm instantly taken back to being an innocent, pre-teen girl who searched teen magazines for pictures to add to my collection on my wall. I miss those days, when life was all about school, your friends, and hanging out at the mall. It makes you take a look at yourself and question your own mortality. And you realize you're getting older and as much as you want it to, time is not going to stop.

RIP Patrick Swayze. You may have never won an Oscar or was given the credit you deserved as an actor but you left behind a great legacy. And you will be missed.