When A Celebrity Dies

Why do we feel sad when a celebrity dies? In most cases, we don't personally know them, but we may indeed have a relationship with them or at least with the things they did that created their celebrity. Remembering back a few years when Huell Howser died, I mourned. I felt silly about it as well, not ever having come in contact with the man.  But I think I was mourning what he represented, a friendly curiosity in learning about what kinds of things were special to people throughout our state. Whether it was talking with someone who caught the largest sea bass on the West Coast or finding a tiny house built beneath a canopy of trees on a remote piece of land, he had a way of finding a gem in the ordinary. I always felt good after spending an hour or so with him on television. As for the man himself, I knew little, but I knew his television persona and to think I would not be able to travel with him to places unknown, made me sad.  Was I crazy? Was I unique?  I don't think so. When a celebrity dies, an actor, a singer, an artist, we not only mourn their passing, but also the promise of more from them. Another masterpiece, another song, another great scientific achievement. Grief and its causes can take so many forms and my belief is if you feel grief, it's real and no one should laugh, ridicule or tell you that you shouldn't be sad. I believe, that in contrast to grieving a family member or friend, this type of grief is easier to manage, but it is still very real. So if you miss someone, whether you know them or not, feel free to grieve, embrace in what they gave to the world and be glad that you were here to share time on earth while they were here as well.