A Life Smack

Heroes. Wild is the Wind. Under Pressure. Space Oddity.

The Thin, White Duke. 

There are remote events in life that rattle you some. I’m not talking about those like Paris or San Bernardino, most recently, but those that are on your personal life’s radar. The ones that are so removed from your day-to-day reality yet get under your skin and in your bones. There have been two famous people who have died that, well, caused me to grieve. The first was Lady Diana. As a new mother myself then, her sudden death crystallized the fragility of both her life and her role as parent. Today, with the seemingly sudden death of David Bowie, I grieve again. This time, my timeline is far different. His latest album, Blacklist, was just reviewed yesterday, January 11, 2016, in the Chicago Tribune. At 69 years of age, he was still evolving as an artist and, I suspect, as a human being.

It may be a cosmic joke, or comic bit, that other people’s triumphs or disasters provoke us into action. I don’t know that this is necessarily a bad thing. Whatever it may be, a changing calendar, a new season, or, a happy/sad event, I believe we can use that emotional jet fuel to help our families and ourselves. So, while I play some of those old Bowie songs that I wore through as a kid, I will check to be sure that my financial house is in order. I do not want to Look Back in Anger during my Golden Years….

Journey on, David Bowie!