touched by but didn't meet...

last night jon and i watched the show on what is happening with dog the bounty hunter. after that we saw the memorial service for crocodile hunter, steve irwin. i tell you i was so emotional last night. i am sure pms was a factor but it didn't help. i had a good cry. i started to think about the people's deaths who had an effect on my life even though i had never met them. i came up with 4 and for different reasons.

steve irwin (crocodile hunter) 1962-2006


i have been watching him on t.v. entertain us for about 8 years. i remember watching him when my son was born. we thought he was crazy but so positive. i felt like i knew him right away. he reminded me of my dad. he was always so happy, positive and so funny. he had a great sense of humour and no fear at all. i watched him grow into a great dad in front of us. i watched bindi and bob as they grew up. i felt like i knew him even though it was just though the t.v. he seemed like a great person. i thought terri was a very lucky lady to have such a great guy. he will be forever missed by his fans.


river phoenix 1970-1993

i remember being at a donair joint at lunch on my lunch break and seeing on the t.v. there that "river phoenix dead halloween night at the age of 23". my jaw dropped! i couldn't believe someone the same age as me like that was gone. he was an amazing actor and and always seemed to be beyond his years. drug overdose? he did drugs? i was very naive i guess. he died at johnny depp's club? wow! joaquin phoenix and flea (red hot chili peppers) and his girlfriend samantha mathis were all there. joaquin called 911? i remember that like yesterday. i had a teeny-bopper crush on him as a teenager. i couldn't believe such a cool guy like that was gone. i had seen his movie "the thing called love" a couple weeks before.


princess diana 1961-1997


i grew up wishing i could be as beautiful as princess diana. it all started with all the hype around her 1980 marriage to prince charles. i remember as a 9 year old girl watching the horse drawn carriage bring her to westminster abbey. when she got out we got to see the beautiful lady diana spencer get out. she was absolutely breathtaking. i remember it to this day. i watched as she had children and watched her become a wonderful mom with her 2 boys. i remember the morning i woke up that august day and heard on every channel that princess diana has died. i immediately felt so sorry for her 2 boys.

john f. kennedy jr. 1960-1999


he was the sexiest man alive. he was absolutely gorgeous. he had an amazing family that everyone knew and admired. he was a business man and not only that he was a bachelor for a very long time. when he married caroline bessette, so many women around the world grieved because they now no longer had a chance (ha,ha). i remember that day when they said that his plane was missing. he was flying vfr and the weather was bad. i knew that was not a good sign. i have a pilot husband and i worked in aviation too so that wasn't good news to hear. when they found a plane off the coast you knew for sure they had to still be in it. such a great man was gone just like that. he could have been a future president. so many people had so many dreams for him i am sure. he had big boots to fill and i always felt bad for him because of that. he started up george magazine and who could forget that first front cover of cindy crawford wearing an outfit that resembled george washington? george disappeared after jfk jr. was gone.

these are the 4 people whose deaths really seemed to affect me. i will never forget watching the challenger crash in 1986 as well. i was in science class when we watched it and no one will ever forget 9/11.

what has affected you?