Rest in Peace
Imagine my shock when, after I came back upstairs after having a late dinner, the front page of Yahoo! announced that Patrick Swayze (of Dirty Dancing and Ghost fame) was dead. I just stared at the article, unable to wrap my brain around it.
It isn't that I know him personally. But the loss is felt anyway. Part of it is because, in a strange way, Dirty Dancing was my coming-of-age movie. In fact it was very much a coming-of-age movie for many girls and continues to be so.
In Ghost, Patrick was the spirit of a man who tried very hard to protect the woman he loved.
He's done other movies. I remember fondly the corny movie, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, where he played the role of a drag queen. (I still remember reading an interview where he mentioned that his wife had to teach him how to walk like a woman. Just imagining that and how much fun they just had to have during that is also adorable.)
When I learned he was stricken with pancreatic cancer, my heart clutched. There are many cancers that, if caught early, are survival. Some, such as pancreatic cancer, are not. (Or rather, a very very slim chance of surviving.) He fought it for 20 months, persisted stubbornly in acting in a TV show. Acting, especially in television, is actually a rather exhausting job (often more than 14 hours a day if you're a main character!).
He tried. He held off that beast for 20 months.
He didn't make it.
Rest in peace, Patrick.
It isn't that I know him personally. But the loss is felt anyway. Part of it is because, in a strange way, Dirty Dancing was my coming-of-age movie. In fact it was very much a coming-of-age movie for many girls and continues to be so.
In Ghost, Patrick was the spirit of a man who tried very hard to protect the woman he loved.
He's done other movies. I remember fondly the corny movie, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, where he played the role of a drag queen. (I still remember reading an interview where he mentioned that his wife had to teach him how to walk like a woman. Just imagining that and how much fun they just had to have during that is also adorable.)
When I learned he was stricken with pancreatic cancer, my heart clutched. There are many cancers that, if caught early, are survival. Some, such as pancreatic cancer, are not. (Or rather, a very very slim chance of surviving.) He fought it for 20 months, persisted stubbornly in acting in a TV show. Acting, especially in television, is actually a rather exhausting job (often more than 14 hours a day if you're a main character!).
He tried. He held off that beast for 20 months.
He didn't make it.
Rest in peace, Patrick.