Yesterday afternoon, I was on my way home to Virginia after Christmas festivities with family in Maryland. The car ride was actually very enjoyable, just my brother, my dad and I were in the car talking about the ridiculous number of bowl games in college football nowadays, and our favorite Jack White songs. Then the constant hum of merry conversation was suddenly and abruptly extinguished, and the car fell silent. It started when I saw a text from my Odyssey Wife, Bri, which simply read "Have you heard?" Somehow, without any further elaboration, I knew exactly what she meant. All it took was a simple slide across my phone screen with my finger, a gesture so tiny, yet so dreaded. I wanted nothing more than to just put my phone down and pretend that numbing headline didn't exist. But away I swiped, revealing the horrid words.
See, there are those who would like to believe that allowing yourself to feel genuinely sad at the death of a celebrity, a stranger for all intensive purposes, is a superficial, melodramatic gesture. I admit that I myself felt this way about celebrity deaths some time ago. But I don't believe that to be a fair assessment of what it is to grieve a celebrity. The reason these people are even famous in the first place is because we, as a populous, live vicariously through them. We hold them up, we admire them, and we believe in them because, for better or worse, they represent a sort of success we all wish we could have. And in the case of performers, it's the emotional impact of their work which serves as the connection between the audience and the performer. When we allow ourselves to be emotionally impacted by the life and work of someone, it almost doesn't make sense to not be emotionally impacted by their deaths.
The death of the beloved Carrie Fisher is no exception.
I, like millions upon millions of others, grew up with googly eyes for the Princess from a galaxy far, far away. Yes, she is so much more than just that one role, we all know that. She was a princess beyond the Star Wars universe. She became an inspiration to people everywhere, not just because she could handle a blaster and toss out witty remarks. She became a hero because of how bravely she lived her life. Many would think that growing up in her circumstance would be a wonderful life, but it proved otherwise in the case of Carrie Fisher. Her entire life was a battle, and she fought it with conviction and courage.
She will be remembered not just as a space princess, but as a role model. Not a role model for perfection, or a squeaky clean life. But the fact that she owned the mistakes she made, the fact that she didn't let adversity defeat her, and her everlasting determination to make any situation a good one will be her legacy.
I'm just glad that she lived long enough to witness just how in love the world still was with her, and always will be.
