I don't usually cry when celebrities die, but in these last few days I've cried a few times about people I don't know personally who are gone. I think the last time I cried about a celebrity death before this was when Ginger Rogers died, many years ago. I happened to be reading her autobiography at the time.
My husband and I don't like many movies (find the comedies unfunny and many others just too boring), but the first Star Wars movie is one of our favorites. We even had a very long discussion about various Star Wars movies and other sci-fi topics the night before Carrie Fisher died.
Carrie Fisher had a rough life. I know it's hard enough just dealing with regular depression. I certainly wouldn't want to live with bipolar disorder, as she did. Having made the choice in recent years to get shock treatment to deal with her mental illness couldn't have been easy. She mentioned on talk shows how it would take away her short-term memory. She would lose about a month of recent memories, if I'm recalling correctly. That sounds so frightening to me, but she did what she felt she had to do to feel better.
I admired Carrie Fisher for all that she had overcome in her life, while remaining so strong. When I heard of her passing, I thought of both her daughter and her mother, Debbie Reynolds. I thought of how hard it would be for them, similar to what my own mother and nephew have gone through because of losing my sister Kim, though Kim's son was much younger than Carrie's daughter.
Then one day after Carrie had passed, her mother Debbie Reynolds did, too. Such a shock. Again, my first thought was for Carrie's daughter (Debbie's granddaughter). I hope that she has good, loving, and supportive people around her, because she is going to need that so very much.
Al Roker said today on The Today Show, "Debbie knew that her daughter needed her." I disagree. I know Todd Fisher said that his mother had expressed wanting to be with Carrie about 30 minutes before she died, but I think she would know that Carrie was fine, and that the people who really needed her are her son and her granddaughter.
I just heard, in these last few days, that there is an upcoming HBO documentary about Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds called Bright Lights. I will definitely want to buy it on DVD when it comes out. I didn't know that they lived right next door to each other and were so very close, but I would really love to see that and hear all about their recent time together. I know it will make me sad, as will seeing Carrie in any new or old Star Wars movies we watch.
I always, always loved Debbie Reynolds, too. I saw most of her old movies, some of them multiple times, and she was great on Will and Grace, too, playing Grace's mother.
I just hope that Debbie's son and Carrie's daughter and anyone else who loved them will all be able to comfort each other and find ways to make going forward an okay thing for all of them. I know it will be difficult, but I wish them joy and peace.
