Over the last few years there's been a few losses in the world of the entertainment that have reminded me more and more of man's mortality. (Not to mention the loss of my first wife in the accident nearly 2 years back)
Michael Jackson at a still early age just about 2 years ago was one example, with him seeming to have a lot of time ahead. Clarence Clemons just over this last week is another example though I would note that he had several years on Michael Jackson at the time of his passing. Still he leaves us at an age when many would expect he still had years ahead of him.
Sooner or later we all go. Death and Taxes, the only things definitive about life, or something like that so the saying goes. Still, I get struck a little each time one of the people that I somewhat followed is taken. I can't help but think of my own future, especially as I make plans to share it with someone else and hope to have many happy years to share with them (and them with me).
A recent country song, If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away, as well as an earlier song or two, remind me of what I hope the future holds for all of us. An opportunity to find our loved ones in the future. Some people choose to use that freewill that we're told a creator granted us to determine that there is nothing else out there. My first wife claimed often that she was such an individual and my daughter and son seem to have followed in those footsteps. I choose the answer that I would say is filled with hope. One that leaves open the possibilities that could be there, and that I hope are there, for me and my loved ones.
At another site that I visit regularly, I saw (and helped to start) some very respectful discussion back and forth between people with some strong beliefs and others with equally strong beliefs in, well, nothingness. It was very refreshing really, and gave me a chance to reflect a bit on my own thinking and why I have the beliefs that I do. The idea that this is all there is, and that it all happened because of some coming together of all of the right ingredients at the right time which later evolved into what we have now is mind boggling to me just as the idea of a magical mythical all powerful and almighty being boggles the mind of others.
All of these losses also serve to remind me that the time that I grew up in and the stars that existed in that time made it my own golden era. Sure, I love the greats of old, the true classics (Grant, Gable, Taylor, Heston, Wayne and others) but I've also been alive during the time of some other greats in the world of entertainment (such as Michael Jackson and Clarence Clemons) and we've seen some of the greats of my younger days pass on in the last few decades. Hopefully some talented individuals will come along and fill the void that is left behind, but only time will tell in that area.
