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.

Gone too soon

Like everyone else yesterday, I was (and still is) in complete and utter shock regarding the passing of Michael Jackson. I was at the gym yesterday when I heard the news. I immediately turned to MSNBC, thinking the media had jumped the gun and there was no way that Michael Jackson had died. Unfortunately, they were right. I was in utter dismay. I continued my workout on the treadmill so that I could watch t.v. and get the latest updates. But that plan soon changed. The moment MJ's death was confirmed, the media started talking about Michael's legal woes, eccentricities and all around weirdness. The man had just died and already they were already trashing him. Regardless of how people feel about Michael, you can not deny the fact that the man was a musical genius. If it weren't for Michael Jackson, there would be no Usher, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake. He influenced generations of people. That can not be taken away from him.

I will admit that I've always been more of a Prince fan than a Michael fan. But when I look back on my childhood, Thriller was the soundtrack. It was all about that album. I remember waiting for the Thriller video to premiere and being amazed by it once it was over. We then watched it over and over to learn the choreography and then go outside and re-enact it from start to finish. I can still bust out some of those zombie moves now. Ha-ha! When I was in the 5th grade I had a HUGE crush on this 6th grader named Rodney (I can't believe I remember his name). What was so special about him you ask? Well, he looked just like Michael Jackson. He had the gerri curl, red leather jacket from the Beat It video and the sunglasses. You couldn't tell me nothing. I thought that boy was FINE!

My favorite Michael Jackson song is "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing). That song was my jam. I used to think the song was about me. I remember walking in my neighborhood and hearing a boy shout out to me "Hey PYT!" And I'd give a cheesy grin and think I was the ish! I still love that song to this day!

We lost a great artist yesterday. His legacy will continue to live on because he touched so many people with his music. As I'm typing this, I'm listening to Michael Jackson on my iPod. His music never gets old or tired. Whenever I hear a Michael Jackson song on the radio, I start grooving. I heard on the radio this morning a clip of a MJ interview and what he said resonated with me: Great music is immortal.

Yes it is. And because of your great music, you will be with us forever.

R.I.P. Michael