This weekend was full of amazing highs and one really sad low. My brother’s wedding was on Friday and it was a wonderful day full of family and friends that really started on Thursday night at the rehearsal and continued on through Saturday at a wedding barbeque. I’ll have more on that later…
Right now, I’m feeling quite sad. You see, Saturday night, while we were all sitting outside by the fire reflecting on the fun we had shared over the course of the wedding events, David informed us that CNN had just announced news that actor Cory Monteith had been found dead in his hotel room. I stared blankly at him for a while not sure quite how to process the information. Someone else in our little group said, “Finn Hudson from Glee?” And it was at that moment that I saw it…. A look of both sadness and confusion crossed my Big Guy’s face. I wished that for a second I could press pause and rewind for a moment so I could prepare him for what I knew he was having a hard time processing. I wanted to shelter him from the rest of the world and let him continue living in a perfect bubble, but as he has gotten older, it has become much harder to shield him from all of the bad things that happen in life.
Glee was a huge thing in our household when it first aired. My big guy is totally into music and dance, so it was right up his alley. Finn was and is his favorite character. He had the best songs and he got to go out with Rachel (who my Big Guy adores). He quickly became my favorite as well. He was the naïve, slightly introverted star athlete with a heart of gold and he reminded me so much of David in high school that I quickly fell in love with the character.
I could tell right away that Big Guy was trying to process the information at hand and that he was trying really hard not to cry. Not crying is kind of a big deal right now – especially if there are people around, and there were a lot of people around. He didn’t really want to talk and I didn’t press it. I knew that he would come around in his own time. Last night when they reported on the news that the autopsy revealed that Cory Monteith had died mixed toxicity involving heroin and alcohol. Upon overhearing the news my big guy pulled me aside and asked what that meant. We had a drug talk that I hadn’t expected to be having for a few more years. He understands that actors are people who play characters in television and movies and that they have different lives outside of the roles that we see them play, but I know that while he gets the concept, he isn’t quite old enough to make a total separation. When he sees Cory Monteith, he sees the kind-hearted Finn Hudson, not an actor that was struggling with some personal demons. A bit of my big guy’s innocence died along with one of his first heroes and I suppose that is what makes me most sad of all. Having a very talented young man pass away at such a young age is a true tragedy and having to see it through my son’s eyes was heartbreaking. I pray for Cory Monteith’s family, friends and coworkers. The world has lost a very talented young man.
All photos via Yahoo!