Not Knowing What’s Going to Happen Next 625.2
No matter how much we fear it, try to escape it, or ignore it, death comes to everyone. Wealth, fame, even wisdom and virtue provide no sanctuary.
It comes at its own time and place without regard for our readiness or its impact on survivors.
This week brought news of three deaths, each momentous in its own way as each life had its own unique path forged by circumstances and choices.
Ed McMahon, announcer, pitchman, and sidekick of Johnny Carson, died at 86. A former Marine Corps fighter pilot, his jovial nature attracted a large posse of friends and admirers and helped him achieve a hugely successful career and millions in earnings. None of these things, however, guaranteed happiness or security as his last years were spent in debt, ill health, and contentious litigation.
Farrah Fawcett, an iconic beauty known for her glamorous pin-up pictures and for being one of Charlie’s Angels, died at 62 after a hard, long public battle with cancer. She died with her companion for 27 years, actor Ryan O’Neal, at her side, struggling with all her might to enjoy her relationships a little longer.
These obituaries were eclipsed by the sudden death of 50-year-old “King of Pop” Michael Jackson. The one-gloved, red-jacketed, surgically altered, moon-walking singer/dancer was, for more than a decade, the brightest star in celebrity heaven. Once able to buy anything he wanted including a private zoo and the bones of The Elephant Man, Jackson also died in debt and in emotional prison – never able to overcome a host of personal demons.
Gilda Radner, another celebrity who died early, said: “I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing…taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
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Comments
Your commentary prompted a reflective moment. Feeling the shock, sense of loss, and sadness with the passing of Ed, Farrah, and Michael, I can agree with Gilda Radner's assessment: Sometimes the poem doesn't rhyme.
You never know...and that's all I know.
Posted by: Angelae D. Le'Chastaignier | June 30, 2009 2:03 PM
I think it's a shame that the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon were completely overshadowed by that of Michael Jackson.
Farrah Fawcett suffered terribly in her struggle to survive and enjoy the life given to her. She died quietly with her loved ones at her side, and had a private funeral service.
Michael Jackson, on the other hand, was a very talented man who turned out to be nothing more than a drug-addicted freak. His family is making a total fiasco out of his death and imminent burial. Unfortunately, we are going to be bombarded by his and his dysfunctional family's faces all over our televisions for God only knows how long. Do we really care about his will or who gets his children? Please get off my TV and out of my house.
Posted by: Jo Mudloff | July 3, 2009 6:22 AM
Have any of you heard that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all? Where are YOUR ethics? Michael Jackson had a life that none of us could even possibly begin to understand. Have you been so famous from the time you were 8 years old till the time you were 50, so famous that you couldn't walk down the street? No child star has stayed that famous their whole life. The man has died. Give him some peace now, please.
Posted by: Margaret | July 7, 2009 4:14 PM
So, Margaret, should we not have spoken out against Hitler, Dahmer or the child molester moving in next door just because we had nothing nice to say? Sometimes character is all about speaking out about that which is not nice. Being famous does not give you license to break the law, manipulate a sibling's death, or televise every detail of a person's life and death. There is so much poor character surrounding Jackson's life and death that SHOULD be criticized.
Posted by: Kenny | July 8, 2009 4:13 PM
If a person's character and ethical standards are absent, does his extraordinary talent really matter? If we, as a nation, think it does, there may be no hope for us. If we can celebrate a child abuser and freak just because he was a talented performer, we have a lot of soul-searching to do. What message exactly are we sending our children?
Posted by: Virginia | July 13, 2009 10:49 PM