Death

This status was posted on Facebook: _________ doesn't understand why people feel sad when celebrities die? are you that lonely and needy?

There were several comments posted and some of them weren't very kind. And I'm sorry that the person who originally posted the status update has had to deal with death several times in his life. He was questioning the obsession with celebrities and this was posted in response to people being sad about Bea Arthur.

It got me to thinking though. Why does the death of a celebrity make me sad. In the case of Bea Arthur, she is someone that I first noticed when she was in Maude. This was back in the early '70s. Then of course, there was Golden Girls. Both shows made me laugh. Laughter brought into my life via the telly over the course of many years. And though I never met Bea, I admired her talent and that is talent that can no longer be shared (except in reruns!).

The untimely death of Princess Di really bothered me because we were about the same age. It is an event like that that is a reality check.

So, I just had to get that off of my chest. People mourn in different ways and that should be respected.