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I woke up this morning, January 11, 2016, to read that David Bowie died. I will admit that I was slightly taken aback since I had not seen anything on the tabloid covers while at the check out to indicate that he was ill. Out of nowhere, at least for me, he was gone. And the world continues to turn.
I am not trying to be sarcastic or uncaring with the last sentence of the opening paragraph. I am stating a fact. The world stayed on its normal orbit and did not slow one bit.
David Bowie was a good or great, depending on your taste, musician. I know that I liked his songs. I grew up with them. I was part of the discussion of who or what was David Bowie. He broke through barriers on many levels. I have embarrassed our daughter by singing “Major Tom” in front of her friends. I wait patiently to hear the Bowie/Crosby rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” each Christmas season. In my mind, there will never be a better performance of this song. As a matter of fact, I don’t even need the video. For some reason, I can remember being 12 and watching the original program being televised back in 1977. I fell in love with England that year. But now he is gone – and the world continues to turn.
Why do I keep repeating that? Well – it is true. It also says something about how star struck we have become as a society – not just in the U.S. but worldwide. We idolize stars, singers, and athletes and mourn their passing as if the world has ended. But…. the world continues to turn.
Today, other things happened. A good friend of mine lost his friend. This person, according to his postings, was not famous. He was a father, grandfather, friend, and biker. He loved life and people. People liked him. Now he, like Bowie, is gone. He will be mourned by a much smaller group of people, but he deserves to be mourned just the same. Possibly even more. I don’t know this man, and yet just from the few postings I have seen, he made a difference. His difference was not done through music or charity, but by his human interactions. In a way, I am saddened for the family for his loss is a shadow of Major Tom. Just the same, the world continues to turn.
I also read about the passing of a young girl to cancer. She fought valiantly but cancer won once again. Her family speaks of how much she taught them and others. She did not give up. She did not wish the pain to go on to another. She accepted her pain and fought it. She tried to stay longer, but life had other plans for her. Today, her family mourned her. A song has been written about her. Stories have been told. She touched lives in the way she lived. The world continues to turn.
All three lives mattered. All three lives deserve to be celebrated. All three lives deserve to be just as important as the other. Each day we lose people. We lose fireman, policemen, doctors, nurses, teachers, cooks, custodians, members of the armed services, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. Few live the lives that the news deems worthy enough to mention (unless the death occurs in an interesting way). In through it all, the world continues to turn.
I would like to think that, in a way, when we mourn for a “star” we are also mourning for all the others. We are not mourning the person himself or herself, but we are mourning for what they stood for and what they did. We are mourning for the same characteristics that the school crossing guard exhibited but people did not mourn. We are mourning for the music that they gave us whether it be in actual notes or the song of a person’s voice greeting you as they serve your lunch. I want to believe that the mourning is not because we care more about the celebrities, but it is because we did not get a chance to know those others – those who keep the world turning.
So Rest in Peace, David Bowie; Rest in Peace, Bob Ward; Rest in Peace, Natalia Garcia; Rest in Peace, John Whittet. May you all now be floating:
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue