When Death Catches You Off Guard

From December 2015 @ Tom and Florianne's.

Death has been revolving around my life more and more in recent days. As I wrote about previously, the sudden (to me) death of CBC radio personality, Stuart McLean, happened on Wednesday. On Thursday, a young lady who attended the Knox Youth Dinner on Tuesday evenings was murdered in her apartment on Dawes Road. And Friday was the first anniversary of our friend Tom Chan's passing.

Now, I didn't know Stuart McLean personally. Nor did I know the lady, Michelle Riley, who attended Knox. I only saw her in passing as we walked the halls. That was about it.

Tom was a friend from hockey. We saw each other on a weekly basis through winter. After some time he reached out to me and invited me over to his and Florianne's place for get togethers. I will always appreciate his kindness and hospitality. He was truly a great guy.

The thing about these deaths, and many others, is they happened unexpectedly. One day the person is here, the next day they are gone. It's especially difficult for their loved ones. Though, in some cases, they may have had an inkling something was wrong (if the person was elderly or sick).

But, to their cursory friends, sometimes death comes as a shock. That can be really hard. Especially if you never got the chance to personally say, good-bye. To express your gratitude for their friendship, to hold their hand and tell them you care for them and that you'll miss them. That's the heartbreaking part in stories like this.

Good-bye, my friend.

Bad Week for Celebrity Deaths

This, the third week of January, has been a particularly bad week for celebrity deaths. On Monday we learned, with great shock and sadness, of the death of music icon, David Bowie. Unbeknownst to all but his closest family members, he had been battling cancer for 18 months. He died two days after his 69th birthday which was also the same day he chose to release his final album, Blackstar.

Three days later, on January 14th, respected British actor, Alan Rickman, passed away of pancreatic cancer. He was also 69. He burst onto the scene with his role as Hans Gruber, contemptible adversary of Bruce Willis in the original Die Hard movie. Younger generations would remember him as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter series of films.

Also, on January 14th, we lost René Angélil, husband and manager to Canadian singing sensation, Celine Dion. He died at age 74, two days short of his 75th birthday. Again cancer was the culprit. This time it was of the throat. His funeral will be held at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. The same place he was married over two decades ago.