It
seemed like recently we have been losing famous and one infamous person from
the world.
First
on August 25th we lost Neil Armstrong. I have to make sure I get that date
right because I was reading online how different news stations got information
wrong about Neil Armstrong, one even naming him Neil Young. The reason they
stated they got that information wrong was because they had already written an
obit as they knew he was getting there in age and they didn’t want to have to
write one on the spur of the moment when he was to pass away. That is a good
idea, but they forgot the most important rule in any news agency whether its
print or television - PROOF READ!
So
a lot of people got a kick out of the mistake even though the Neil Young
mistake was up for only five minutes it goes to show how many people will see a
mistake when it’s out there. So many people tell us in the newspaper world that
no one looks at our paper, I would like to challenge them to place an ad with a
mistake and their phone number on there, lets see how many calls they would
get.
Yet
of course I never met Neil Armstrong, but I grew up always hearing about him
and always seeing that video of him jump stepping on the moon which I always
say is one of the most inspiring and proudest moments in Unites States history.
He was already in our history books but now he has left our world. He will be
missed.
Another
famous person I will miss is Michael Clarke Duncan who we lost on Labor Day; he
was the gentle giant from the Green Mile. I always liked him but that movie
made him shine. He was one of the few actors that I would really like to have
met in person and actually have a conversation with him. He was not always an
actor, instead he was first a bodyguard and his physique was made for that. He
was huge and full of muscles, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be intimidated
by him, but you could tell he was still a good guy inside. He was one of them
actors that if you were to meet him on the street, he would greet you and he
never forgot where he came from. He will be missed a lot by Hollywood and by
us.
And
the last person whose death I read about was the infamous Griselda Blanco who
also passed on September 3rd. She was knick named the “cocaine
queen” and the Godmother and in the mid 70’s and into the 80’s she was the one
bringing in a lot of the cocaine from Columbia into the US and was living in
Miami. She was ruthless as killed whoever got in her way. Yet when I say kill,
I mean she had killed. She would pay hit men to do her dirty work. She is given
credit for pretty much inventing the drive-by shootings by motorcycle – and
guess how she was killed? A man on a motorcycle gunned her down as she came out
of a butcher shop, now that is karma. Still I think about her, she was already a
lady of 69 years old, yes she had done some horrible things in her life but she
was out of the spotlight for many years already. I guess there are times that
no matter what our past will catch up with us.
Every
decision has its consequences and Griselda chose the bad life while she was
younger, she had many people killed and made many enemies and unfortunately
some people don’t forget the past. It’s sad because she did have a bad
childhood where her mother forced her into prostitution while she was a little
more than a child. Later she chose to continue prostitution away from her
mother, but in a poor country there isn’t much opportunity for an uneducated
woman. Later she went into the drug business and there she flourished but that
was a bad decision. She seemed to be a good businesswoman, she could have been
another kind of legal businesswoman, but she chose to go into the “dark” side
and then it came back probably when she thought she was safe and bit her on her
backside.
From
the wise words of Tyler Perry’s Madea, “There comes a time where we have to
stop blaming our past for the decisions we make in our future.” What happened
in the past stays back there, we have to let it go to make sure that we survive
and continue our lives. She may have had a bad childhood, but she chose to make
her adulthood a bad one and sadly she paid for it.
Still
these are three people that have left an empty spot in this world, and even
though there is no question that Neil Armstrong and Michael Duncan will be
missed by many, I’m sure Griselda Blanco’s family and friends will miss her
too.
