november 12, 2003 - november 12, 2010; 7 years.
I thought about not writing an entry about this but I don't think that I can ever really let this day slide. I'm leaving the post open for anyone who's still reading this journal after all these years. We all went through the same shared experience 7 years ago so let me know if you're still out there.
I remember 7 years ago it was rainy in southern California. I was on the hotmail message board that I used to regularly visit and we were saying that the weather was awful. Little did we know what was happening in southern California at the time.
A few days later, the Cleveland Plains Dealer published an article saying that Jonathan Brandis had died. He had done The Year That Trembled in the area. I was frantic, trying to find information, in contact with other fans. I e-mailed TYTT because they were pretty good about keeping people informed and were open communicators. I heard the news straight from them.
I can never forget these little details. It's been 7 years but in some ways, in a lot of ways, it feels like it was only yesterday. It's so strange that I am where I am now in my life and so close to where he used to live. I pass by his old neighborhood every single day and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him.
He really was someone that I felt like I could relate to and connect to. As a fan, I felt the kind of ambitious that he had that was so similar to my own. I was so driven back then and he had a lot to do with that. I don't think that he ever knew that he had an affect on people. People did acknowledge that he wasn't a teen star anymore but he wanted acknowledgment from the creative community regarding that. He didn't get it. But, I believe he was on his way there.
Television has come so far since 2003. Cable networks are thriving and I feel like he could've been part of that.
It's crushing sometimes to go to his IMDB page and no longer see it updated with projects. Sometimes I forget and expect to see something new there and there's nothing.
But, today begins the week of remembrance for him and all the great memories that he gave me. I'm so glad that I have scifi_addict still here on LJ who was very, very much a part of that whole experience. I'm grateful to all those who contacted me here about him and shared so many of your own wonderful, personal memories of him. That means more to me than you would ever know. I treasure those e-mails and messages and I thank you again for giving me just a little bit of that.
Until next year.
Click to viewThe song that I'll forever associate with him.