I would like to take a moment in honor of the passing of Robin Williams. I have been a huge fan of comedians since I was a child, and Mr. Williams was one of my very favorites. I remember seeing him in Happy Days as Mork from Ork for the first time and thinking to myself “That man is a genius”. I then religiously followed him in his every endeavor. I watched him electrify the crowd and also at the same time nearly bring them to tears in “Live at the Met”. I remember thinking that he was by far the funniest man alive as most did. He was aglow in energy no matter the comedic setting, and when he spread his wings dramatically, I, like so many others, were left dumbfounded. He taught us to be able to laugh at death, something no one had ever dared do before. “What are we so mortally afraid of, why can’t we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity, decency and God forbid a bit of humor.” In the saddest of moments he could do what very few could do, cause laughter…….through tears. I watched as my own children’s eyes marveled as he reinvented Peter Pan, a Genie, a Wildman trapped in a game, and watched in awe as he spread his talent in Good Will Hunting, What Dreams May Come, and Dead Poet Society. I use the Carpe Diem speech when I coached football to young men that needed to hear it, as well as myself. I have also struggled with depression and have walked the proverbial edge of my own darkness. Oddly enough, it was often Mr. Williams who caused me to “laugh through tears” and sustain me. He showed odd kids like myself and many others that laughter could be a medicine, a healer, a port in a storm…..thank you Mr. Williams for everything and as the line goes “and the great play goes on, and we may contribute a verse”……..Sir, may I say, what a verse you left in me……..in us all……Sleep well oh Captain my Captain “We dont read and write poetry because its cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 01:33:11 +0000
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