I admit the day after actress Carrie Fisher died on December 27 last month I posted that meme of the Kardashian clan (i.e. Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kris – too many to list here) that featured the words below that the year 2016 still has four days left for the Grim Reaper to take one if not all of the reality TV show family.
True, the posting was nothing more than wishful thinking but it did prove just how I, and so many others, felt witnessing the losses of so much talent last year. How cruel of a world it is we live in that the Hollywood actors, actresses and music icons we grew up on are all dying and nothing bad has happened to the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus.
Stage one for me came with all the negative commentary I had to put up with from Negative Nancys on Facebook who’d use social media to bitch about every major subject (i.e. the presidential election, the Oscars being “too white”, the Black Lives Matter Movement among them) that I and a majority of others didn’t care to read. Those of us who wanted no part of their bitching had already heard enough of it on a daily basis on the news and talk radio.
By the time a loser upset by how the “Boys In Blue” in his pathetic sick mind target African-Americans went on a killing spree in downtown Dallas in early July cold-bloodedly murdering four Dallas police and a DART officer during a Black Lives Matter demonstration, I could not help but wonder how much more tragedy could 2016 offer given there was still barely six months left!
Stages two and three happened on a personal level as I found myself engaging in a continuing battle with diabetes, battling bill collectors, unable to balance a 40 hour work week and college classes, and bed bugs (yes – just like those talking M&Ms on those commercials, the night time pests do exist and it don’t matter how immaculate you keep your house clean!)
A few close friends I knew either battled life-threatening diagnosis or lost the battles all together. A friend I knew in high school lost her only son at age 14 and she and her husband have been coping with the loss ever since as expressed by her grief memes she posts on Facebook. Again, I can’t imagine the pain a parent goes through when it comes to burying and outliving their child.
Another one I knew in high school was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery and chemo done. The problem is while he is done with chemo and surgery and has been doing well since; the surgeons were not able to get the whole tumor. Another friend from grade school lost his wife to lymphoma. And another childhood friend of mine whose parents I had known since the early 1970s lost his father in November to a stroke.
So you will understand why 2016 sucked so much! It felt like I was being pummeled.
While it is said when one is diagnosed with stage four cancer means that you are about to meet your maker soon, for me stage four actually meant hope. In November the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for 108 years. I can’t tell you how much I, and so many die-hard Cub fans needed this win given how bad the year had been going!
For a year that started out with a whimper the good news was 2016 went out with a bang. I lost over 40 pounds, though not considered “healthy” weight loss I still saw it as weight loss regardless. I loved getting comments from family members and social media during Thanksgiving who said because they hadn’t seen me in a while I was almost unrecognizable having lost so much weight. I love the fact all the extra large clothes I have now are too baggy and as soon as I got some money to burn I will have to get a whole new wardrobe.
However, if none of the other negative things occurred, I would not have been bothered too much by all the notable figures, Hollywood and music icons who died during the year.
If there is a lesson to be learned from losing so many icons in 2016 it is that we should all cherish the time we have with the ones who are still here and appreciate the notable figures who are still around as none of us knows how long we have.
Trouble is I believe NO one will follow such advice. They’ll instead post comments on social media how the minute they hear another idol has died they’ll post how 2017 sucks as much as 2016 did. They’ll post youtube videos recalling the songs, TV shows or movies that person did.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I again see social media users in 2017 post another meme to God asking the Almighty if they offer up the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus to the Heavens, if they can have so-so movie star or music legend back.
©1/18/17
True, the posting was nothing more than wishful thinking but it did prove just how I, and so many others, felt witnessing the losses of so much talent last year. How cruel of a world it is we live in that the Hollywood actors, actresses and music icons we grew up on are all dying and nothing bad has happened to the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus.
For me, the year 2016 was bad but not because of the talent lost. There was a host of reasons why the year sucked so much that when 2017 started at midnight on Jan. 1, the first rule of 2017 in a Facebook meme I saw was “We don’t talk about 2016.”Last year sucked for me in the form of four stages; the same number of stages one is given when they are handed a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.
Stage one for me came with all the negative commentary I had to put up with from Negative Nancys on Facebook who’d use social media to bitch about every major subject (i.e. the presidential election, the Oscars being “too white”, the Black Lives Matter Movement among them) that I and a majority of others didn’t care to read. Those of us who wanted no part of their bitching had already heard enough of it on a daily basis on the news and talk radio.
By the time a loser upset by how the “Boys In Blue” in his pathetic sick mind target African-Americans went on a killing spree in downtown Dallas in early July cold-bloodedly murdering four Dallas police and a DART officer during a Black Lives Matter demonstration, I could not help but wonder how much more tragedy could 2016 offer given there was still barely six months left!
Stages two and three happened on a personal level as I found myself engaging in a continuing battle with diabetes, battling bill collectors, unable to balance a 40 hour work week and college classes, and bed bugs (yes – just like those talking M&Ms on those commercials, the night time pests do exist and it don’t matter how immaculate you keep your house clean!)
A few close friends I knew either battled life-threatening diagnosis or lost the battles all together. A friend I knew in high school lost her only son at age 14 and she and her husband have been coping with the loss ever since as expressed by her grief memes she posts on Facebook. Again, I can’t imagine the pain a parent goes through when it comes to burying and outliving their child.
Another one I knew in high school was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery and chemo done. The problem is while he is done with chemo and surgery and has been doing well since; the surgeons were not able to get the whole tumor. Another friend from grade school lost his wife to lymphoma. And another childhood friend of mine whose parents I had known since the early 1970s lost his father in November to a stroke.
So you will understand why 2016 sucked so much! It felt like I was being pummeled.
While it is said when one is diagnosed with stage four cancer means that you are about to meet your maker soon, for me stage four actually meant hope. In November the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for 108 years. I can’t tell you how much I, and so many die-hard Cub fans needed this win given how bad the year had been going!
For a year that started out with a whimper the good news was 2016 went out with a bang. I lost over 40 pounds, though not considered “healthy” weight loss I still saw it as weight loss regardless. I loved getting comments from family members and social media during Thanksgiving who said because they hadn’t seen me in a while I was almost unrecognizable having lost so much weight. I love the fact all the extra large clothes I have now are too baggy and as soon as I got some money to burn I will have to get a whole new wardrobe.
However, if none of the other negative things occurred, I would not have been bothered too much by all the notable figures, Hollywood and music icons who died during the year.
Truth of the matter is death is a part of life. I predict the number of notables who pass away in 2017 could be more than the ones we lost in 2016.Like it or not, every day gone is one more day closer to a date with the Grim Reaper for all of us.
If there is a lesson to be learned from losing so many icons in 2016 it is that we should all cherish the time we have with the ones who are still here and appreciate the notable figures who are still around as none of us knows how long we have.
Trouble is I believe NO one will follow such advice. They’ll instead post comments on social media how the minute they hear another idol has died they’ll post how 2017 sucks as much as 2016 did. They’ll post youtube videos recalling the songs, TV shows or movies that person did.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I again see social media users in 2017 post another meme to God asking the Almighty if they offer up the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus to the Heavens, if they can have so-so movie star or music legend back.
©1/18/17
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