WHEN THE FRIEND YOU NEVER KNEW GOES AWAY

Some events in life you never expect, early death is usually one of those unexpected events. When a person facilitates their own death it just compounds the pain that much more. When I first read that Robin Williams had been found dead I simply dismissed it as a net hoax. I kept running into reputable sources that reported the same thing until I found myself accepting that he was dead.

The details behind his death were a shock to me but the fact that he was dead was the enormous shock that was impossible to reconcile. I wondered for a few hours why his death was having an effect on me. Robin Williams was human, a celebrity, but human and not necessarily immune to problems. I started really going back to when I first became aware of Robin Williams, the first thing I thought of was Popeye, his first lead role in 1980. The film Popeye was a visual feast although the story itself was not so captivating in real time. I thought some more and I arrived at Mork and Mindy. 

I was a huge fan of the show that made Robin Williams a star. I thought of Robin Williams as that alien that arrived on earth at the height of the disco craze and gave birth to a child that was in his 50's when he hatched from a giant egg. To me the show was an example of one man's sensational timing, frenetic energy, and amazing talent. Before I arrived at that trend of thought, I thought of Williams as a sort of friend.

When I was a kid I used to love watching Nick at Nite and my favorite show to watch was Mork and Mindy. Growing up I was sometimes a loner because I was shy and not originally from Florida. Mork was the kind of character that kids in that position could relate to. I understood the sensible side and celebrated that nonstop comedy. I watched the series many times over and always thought of that crazy spaceman as the friend that got me through some difficult growing pains. The spaceman is there but only in memory, we won't see him anymore.

I guess the best way to wrap this up by saying nanu nanu to our buddy. I hope that trip back to Ork is full of the wisdom, peace, laughter, patience, and lessons your brought to us. Good night friend I never knew, thanks for everything.