We know the year is coming to an end with the roll call of famous people who have passed away. This ritual always brings a pause to whatever I’m doing while listening to the news. Watching the faces of statesmen, inventors, actors and writers who influenced the world as I know it, I always realize the mark they left on me as well as mankind. Most profoundly, the musicians who wrote the soundtrack of my life.
This year is different. Halfway through the list of luminaries, it got very personal. It hit me hard that I had lost the shining star in my life in 2017. Of course her light faded slowly away but nonetheless left a black hole in my heart. My favorite Christmas gift this year came from Jim’s son, Dan. He printed a photo of Mom grinning about her latest fashion discovery (a colander on her head as an avant garde hat). We kidded her that it was a space helmet and she laughed. Somehow I think she knew exactly what she was doing! She found joy in the unexpected. Her humor and positive attitude in life was truly infectious. I miss the way she spread it around.
The television tribute closed with the loss of America’s sweetheart, Mary Tyler Moore. When the song played “Who Can Turn the World on With Her Smile?”, my eyes welled up with tears. Mary Richards and Charla Boteler that’s who.
God bless them both.
