Watching Your Heroes Die

Oh yes, so many have gone, the band members/singers, the actors, the TV presenters, and am sometimes caught off guard believing so-and-so had already died. Is hard to keep track, and of course in my minds eye I see them as their younger selves.
I believe Frankie Valli is still alive, have started counting those still with us, it feels more uplifting.

Yes, I definitely agree and not only celebrities. Heroes I have known in real life, relatives who were always 'the grown ups'.

I wouldn’t necessarily consider them heroes (Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman excepted!) but it is our age and our generation.
One of the things my father often said when he heard somebody had died was “He was no age” - how often am I saying that now!
And at the risk of being thoroughly depressing- too often younger men and women than oneself - a reminder of one’s mortality, it makes you think.

Anthony Head was a great animal lover and supported many animal charities. He was also a very kind man. I only realised it from things I’ve read on Facebook.72 is no age and he also only lost his wife a few months ago. I often find that famous people’s charity work only become know after they die (eg George Michael). So they then become heroes to me.

That’s very sad, I didn’t know that he had recently lost his wife too. Very difficult time for his family.

I ve never heard of Anthony Head or Eric Faulkner !
But I was sad to hear Jon Snow has dementia

Anthony Head is an actor whose name you probably wouldn’t recognise until you saw his face. I loved the Merlin series but wouldn’t have known his name from it.

You are definitely not on your own. I’m 67 and I open SM or look in the paper waiting to hear who died. It does make you think of your own mortality. But I think this happens to everyone as they get older.

When we were in our 50s, a contemporary died. Another friend said "Well, He's picking them from our field now." That stuck with me - our field is emptying out faster all the time!

It's also when your friends who are a similar age die that makes you realise that time is catching up.
I was sorry to hear Anthony Head had died at 72. I remember being saddened when David Bowie died at only 69.

I ve had a look on google Maybee and no I don’t know of Anthony Head and not seen him in anything I watch
The other chap is I see a BayCity Roller and that was my children’s era so no don’t know him either. I remember my eldest being a BCR fan for a little while.
Now David Bowie AGA I definitely know who he was

Maybe you can remember the fictitious romance of anthony head and Sharon Vaughan on the TV advert for gold blend coffee. It was a very popular advert

It’s always a wake up call, but I think I was more shocked when I was younger, when famous people died who were young too, because you normally think about your own mortality a lot less then. Marc Bolan’s car accident sticks in my mind.

According to Google, Eric Faulkner's still alive! If we're talking about the Bay City Rollers Eric, that is.

I know what you mean about heroes/former crushes dying. David Cassidy and John Hurt spring to mind for me.

BlueBelle

I ve never heard of Anthony Head or Eric Faulkner !
But I was sad to hear Jon Snow has dementia

A Bay City Roller! so long ago

would you have seen Anthony Head in the
Gold Blend Coffee ads, late 80’s to early 90’s ?

we watched a couple on youtube yesterday
so smoochie
so outdated
but good fun

When I was in my 30s and 40s, I used to get so irritated when my parents and in-laws talked incessanctly about contemporaries who had died, famous or otherwise. Now I'm in the same boat! I try not to dwell on it or mention it to my DDs, I don' want to sound like the harbinger of doom...

incessantly

Yes it's quite depressing and scary really. My OH and I were just saying the other day, the singers/celebrities we remember from our teenage years who were around 10 years older than us, are all dying off and pretty soon we'll be next up the ladder.
It does make you realise how short our time here is and to not put anything off that you want to do

I don’t know of Anthony Head and not seen him in anything I watch

I thought the same, then recognised his facefrom long running Gold Blend coffee commercials on TV

Yes exactly this, and yes it is scary.
It brought it home to me at a funeral when a cousin said to me 'We used to sit here amongst the old uns' and we're the 'Old uns' now.

Recent reminders of...."Live for the day".

Easy even trite to say, hard to do, but it is a reminder to me to try and spend limited energy on that which adds richness too the time we have?

It's also a test for many not already gone through it...of what is maybe the hardest of all, to know aspects of loss and suffering not encountered before.

But that snatched joy of birdsong on a sunny morning, the music that comes on and stops the heart, the love of family, friends, even if not seen a lot - oh so more precious.

You've lifted my heart a bit, thank you Wyllow3. I'll try to keep your words in mind, you are so right!

BlueBelle

I ve had a look on google Maybee and no I don’t know of Anthony Head and not seen him in anything I watch
The other chap is I see a BayCity Roller and that was my children’s era so no don’t know him either. I remember my eldest being a BCR fan for a little while.
Now David Bowie AGA I definitely know who he was

He was in the Nescafé Gold Blend adverts…

My two closest friends died within a few months of each other when I was in my early 50's. It was such an incredibly sad time but once I'd got over the some of the grief I realised that they had given me a gift. I now live much more in the moment and as a result my life has become so much more fulfilling and I am a happier person. I still miss them and think about them both over 20 years later but I'm still here and I'm grateful for it. Life isn't a rehearsal, so my mantra is to make every day count as none of us know when today will be our last.