Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both passed away today. In a weird turn of events, I was in Los Angeles today, and in fact was near the UCLA Medical Center when Michael Jackson was first rushed to the hospital (though I didn't know it at the time).
News like this always makes me sad. These were someone's children, sibling, aunt or uncle, mother or father, friend, lover . . . and you know that there are millions of people either close as family or a million times removed who will grieve deep in their hearts for this loss to their personal lives and the world's popular culture.
A few years ago, I had five family members/close friends of the family pass away in the few months between Halloween and New Year's. One of those people was a woman who was in her mid-late nineties, in terrible pain, weary, struggling, and ready. Yet as she faced the end of her life, her mantra was stronger than ever - life is too short.
At ninety-something years old with a full life behind her, she still felt that she wasn't ready to go.
And there are two razor sharp aspects to this: while she may not have been ready to go, the people she left behind certainly weren't ready to lose her.
Without getting too preachy, when we suffer terrible losses, I hope it serves as a great reminder to us all to live the kinds of lives we want to lead. To live them to the fullest. To treat our loved ones with care and respect, and to never let the opportunity lapse to tell someone how important they are to you and how much they are loved. The 'next time' is never guaranteed, and you never know if you will ever get another chance to say those precious words.
Be good to yourselves and one another.
xoxo,
bex
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