A lot of hearts were broken Saturday night when the news announced Paul Walker’s death. I had clicked on the internet and saw it on the homepage of MSN, so my first thought was that it wasn’t a hoax. Usually you’ll see a hoax on Facebook or Twitter or another small news site first.
I screamed. “No, no, no!” My husband came running, and we spent the next hour looking up everything to see if it was a hoax.
I’ve suffered loss, even tragic loss, and I know there’s no amount of words or outpouring of love that can make it go away. Ever. My heart goes out to his family; my heart goes out to the driver’s family. I want to especially say a quick honor to the driver’s family. He wasn’t as well known because his celebrity status wasn’t as Paul’s was, but I know he was as well loved by many and will be missed.
Right now, even though I am just one of many millions of fans, I am suffering through the denial stage of grief. I don’t want to believe it’s true. His family and close friends and the people he worked with have to face the reality that they will never see him again.
I wasn’t sure if I’d write anything at first and really didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Writing it means I’ve accepted it, or at least acknowledged it, and I was worried that writing about a man I had only watched on the big screen would be disrespectful to the ones who knew and loved him. I would never want to disrespect those suffering such loss.
However, I got to thinking that to remain silent could also be a form of disrespect. When the shock fades and reality hits, it’s always good to read about how a love one affected others in a positive way. A lot of people who have never met him loved him, whether it was just the character he played or the person they thought he was. He was a huge inspiration to many of the heroes I have written about in my stories or even those I planned that haven’t been written. He could in fact have played one or two had my books ever become movies. My husband and I watched and owned every single Fast and Furious movie and yes many of his movies I watched I first watched them because he was in them. He was a huge inspiration to many.
Next, the New York train crash was another stark reminder of just how much we have to be thankful for. The fact we got up this morning, the face I can sit here and type. It could all be taken away from us in an instant. This morning, over a fog riddled sky, I stopped a moment to appreciate the beauty of the sunrise through my oak tree.
So today, I want to honor Paul Walker, Roger Rodas, and the victims of the New York train crash by taking a moment in silence in remembrance and honor of them all. Then I will make my contribution to the charity Paul founded, Reach Out Worldwide, to honor him and his friend and many others who have lost their lives in such tragic accidents. Some of those tragic accidents are what this charity was founded upon. We can’t let such a charity be forgotten.