I never knew Robin Williams. Never met.
Never spoke. Never crossed
paths. Sadly, I never even saw him in
concert or in a comedy club (unless you count all those HBO specials and
hundreds of talk show comedy bits). But this
one hurts, the same way it hurts when you lose a friend.
If there was one person
who lived life on the edge and made that okay – someone whose acceptable
insanity stretched the limits and boundaries, and by doing so made you believe
it was okay to be different, it was Robin Williams.
Sometimes as a kid (and
as a teenager, and even as an adult), life didn’t work out the way it was
planned. It was overwhelming and it
hurt. Laughter was an escape. Laughter provided comfort. Laughter allowed you to take a deep breath,
take a step back, then take that step forward.
Laughter made it better.
Comedians like George Carlin, Sam Kinison, Redd Foxx, Chris Rush, and
Robin Williams were my gods. They pushed
the limits and changed my perspective.
They allowed a kid from a fucked up family with a world of hidden
insecurities and pain, learn how to laugh and find humor in life (especially at
the things that sometimes kicked my ass).
It hurts that those monsters inside many of us – the fears,
insecurities, and things that go bump in the night – got the best of him. It hurts that he lost the ability to find the
laughter in life, especially when Robin Williams created so much of it for
others.
I will remember Robin Williams – not for the way he chose to end his life, but for the way he made me laugh, and the way he helped me live.
I will remember Robin Williams – not for the way he chose to end his life, but for the way he made me laugh, and the way he helped me live.
Hey there, apt fella . . . I kinda thing Mr Williams would dig your trib and how his affect effected. This line especially, tells of how he worked his ways through our ways: "Laughter allowed you to take a deep breath, take a step back, then take that step forward."
ReplyDeleteDoggone it. I was thinkin' he knew he was a force who made a difference to reckon our reckonings with. RIP past a pain bigger than knowing you didn't have to have it, Mork & More. 'Nanoo Nanoo'.
As for that fucked up family . . . there's many of us out here who respond with, "I'll be your Huckleberry." I for one of the gazillions, think you self-made Kevin Michaels the man into somethin' worth sharin' tears and laughs with ... and movin' on forward.
That's the stuff of you, Author Man.
~ Absolutely*Kate