Sentimental Fog

Oh my God! Glenn Frey died today.

There has been far too much death in the last month. I suppose that when people reach a certain age the meat machine just starts to break down in all sorts of ways.

People die, that is just a part of being here and for most of my life it really hasn’t had much impact. I had a friend die in his late twenties, but that was a horrible accident. There were a few political figures that met untimely ends which stand out in my mind. Some of the older guys I worked with passed away over the years and a few my age that somehow became ill and passed. They were not in very good health as a rule and their deaths were no real surprise to me. My parents and Louise’s parents passed away, but that is what parents are supposed to do in the fullness of time. The world turns.

Every day in the news there are stories of accidental death and violent death at the hands of one crazy group or another. It is so common place that I barely even take note anymore. A thousand children can die of starvation in some remote area of the world and I am more emotionally moved by the death of a family pet. Death is all around us, but the society that I live in keeps it hidden from view. I have probably seen only a small handful of dead people during my sixty some odd years on this planet, and they have been made up to look as they did when they were alive. Strange culture!

This past month has not been good for aging film and rock stars. These are the people that wrote the songs that became the soundtrack of my life and those who gave me hours and hours of entertainment. I could say that I will miss them, but the truth of the matter is that they will always be with me. I just have to play one of their songs or watch a favourite movie. These people will never age and will continue to entertain me even though they are no longer here.

The personal losses are a little more problematic. I have photographs and memories, but the images seem to fade over time and the memories are altered with the passage of years. I can still recall my loved ones that have passed, but only through a sentimental fog. Perhaps that is for the best.

Maybe we should ask God for a moratorium on death for a month or so. Just until we can emotionally catch up and come to grips with our lives that have suddenly developed endings.