Loss

It's amazing how small things can mean so much to so many. Every day in the United States about 8,000 people die. For the most part, we don't even notice, unless we happen to know one of the people. A few days ago Michael Jackson died, and it seems that the world stood still. There was no other news. A few days earlier, on June 24, we had to take Hugh to the vet and ended up having her euthanized. This was the second cat in six weeks. Renfield had to be put down on April 30. Both cats had cancer. Both of these deaths had a greater impact on us. it's amazing how that works.

The fact that we lost two cats in six weeks affects us far more than the death of a famous singer, or even the deaths of dozens of people in other parts of the world. It is all relative. The closer you are to the one who died, the more it hurts. So why is the world so worked up by the death of Michael Jackson? It's hard to say, but I think that people feel close to celebrities, even if we have never met them. It's a common point we have with other people. It's a way of connecting with folks around the world. We also feel we know this person, even if we have never met them.

No, I'm not crying over the death of Michael Jackson, as some others have done. I did take a minute to say "Damn, that was unexpected!" and I followed the news like lots of other people did. He had problems, for sure, but his talent was undeniable. I'm not going to do a tribute to him, but I must say I did like some of his stuff. "Thriller" is probably my favorite music video of all time, but "Captain Eo" is something special. If you have not seen it, or it has been too long since you have, here it is:

(It's in two parts, be sure to watch them both.)