Not A One Sided Loss

Now far be it for me to celebrate death, but something seems terribly wrong with the tragic events that have been bestowed upon us in the past 36 or so hours. Within a 12 hour time span on Thursday June 25, 2009, the entertainment world lost two great talented individuals; one expected and the other unexpectedly. Thursday morning we were sadly informed of the passing of Farrah Fawcett after her long and courageous battle with cancer. At about five that afternoon, I had just gotten home and learned that Michael Jackson had been taken to LA Medical Center suffering from a possible heart attack. Around 5:20 doctors reported that attempts to resuscitate him had failed and he was pronounced dead shortly after. Farrah Fawcett was 62 years old and had been courageously fighting the disease that claimed her life. Her long time companion, Ryan O'Neil was at her side when she passed. While the two had a son together, they never married, something O'Neil was hoping to rectify in the near future. Having been asked for her hand many times in the past by O'Neil, Fawcett always declined, but this time would be different. She finally agreed, but sadly as fate would have it, her time would run out before they could tie the knot. The thing that seems so out of balance with all this is that all we seem to be hearing in the media is about Michael Jackson. Farrah Fawcett seems to have been the forgotten victim in their coverage. Now, I realize that Jackson's death was the more shocking event of the two, as it truly was unexpected. But to not devote a respectful portion of the coverage to Fawcett is unfair. A special entitled "Farrah's Story' was to air tonight, but was pre-empted by Jackson coverage. Make no mistake about the fact that I enjoyed Michael Jackson's music as much as anyone else, but I also admired Farrah; not only for he talent, but for her courage she displayed during the final days. This was a loss on both ends, and shouldn't be perceived as a one sided one.