Ryan White
The Mister is currently attending a seminar on Legal Aspects of Healthcare and he came in for lunch and had me do some quick research for him on Ryan White and as usual, I am in tears.
Ryan died young but left a legacy that anyone could be proud of.
To this day, many thousands of people benefit from legislation enacted after his death.
But here was something that I did not previously know:
At Ryan's funeral, his pallbearers included Elton John, Phil Donahue and former football great/car spokesman/and NFL commentator Howie Long. My love/admiration for Howie just jumped 1000%.
and OMG here come the tears again....
from Wiki:
"The Last Song" is the second single by Elton John from the album The One. The song was composed by John, with the lyrics by Bernie Taupin.
This song was written in the memory of Ryan White, a young AIDS patient who died at age 18, with whom John was close.
"It marked the first of his American singles to benefit his AIDS foundation. Taupin faxed the lyrics to Elton in Paris, shortly after Freddie Mercury died. "I was crying all the time as I wrote the music," Elton told The Advocate, "and it was very hard for me to sing it." The song tells of an estranged father coming to terms with the sexuality of his gay son, who is dying of an AIDS-related illness. Gus Van Sant was not the first choice to direct the video. David Hockney and Madonna declined the offer. Originally titled "Song for 1992", it was renamed to avoid dating it."
The song was used during a closing montage featuring people who died of AIDS (including White himself) at the end of the 1993 film And the Band Played On.
Michael died in 1993 as this song was still popular on the radio. During the week that he was in intensive care, I heard the song on the radio I kept in his room for him (even though he was in a coma) and shortly after we took him off life support, when I was the only one in the room, that song once again came on the radio.
(More tears)
Michael's father died when he was a boy, but my dad loved him like he was his son. My dad never liked Elton John until this song came out.
After Michael died, I chose The Last Song to be the closing song at his memorial service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWTkt_ZRMxg
Ryan died young but left a legacy that anyone could be proud of.
To this day, many thousands of people benefit from legislation enacted after his death.
But here was something that I did not previously know:
At Ryan's funeral, his pallbearers included Elton John, Phil Donahue and former football great/car spokesman/and NFL commentator Howie Long. My love/admiration for Howie just jumped 1000%.
and OMG here come the tears again....
from Wiki:
"The Last Song" is the second single by Elton John from the album The One. The song was composed by John, with the lyrics by Bernie Taupin.
This song was written in the memory of Ryan White, a young AIDS patient who died at age 18, with whom John was close.
"It marked the first of his American singles to benefit his AIDS foundation. Taupin faxed the lyrics to Elton in Paris, shortly after Freddie Mercury died. "I was crying all the time as I wrote the music," Elton told The Advocate, "and it was very hard for me to sing it." The song tells of an estranged father coming to terms with the sexuality of his gay son, who is dying of an AIDS-related illness. Gus Van Sant was not the first choice to direct the video. David Hockney and Madonna declined the offer. Originally titled "Song for 1992", it was renamed to avoid dating it."
The song was used during a closing montage featuring people who died of AIDS (including White himself) at the end of the 1993 film And the Band Played On.
Michael died in 1993 as this song was still popular on the radio. During the week that he was in intensive care, I heard the song on the radio I kept in his room for him (even though he was in a coma) and shortly after we took him off life support, when I was the only one in the room, that song once again came on the radio.
(More tears)
Michael's father died when he was a boy, but my dad loved him like he was his son. My dad never liked Elton John until this song came out.
After Michael died, I chose The Last Song to be the closing song at his memorial service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWTkt_ZRMxg