I have been in NJ this week(infiltrating the Autobot's NEST base,) and therefore out of communication with a lot of people.  It's hard to be alone, the youngest of my siblings by a large margin, watching my childhood, and people who embodied hope itself, leave this world.  None of them were perfect.  They never denied their humanity.  They had money problems, relationship problems, health problems, and other problems we all are dealing with.  But through their various gifts, they have created a legacy of hope and love that spans generations.

Ed McMahon spanned several generations.  I was young when Carson retired, and the sound of Ed McMahon's voice was synonymous with Budweiser, insurance, and winning TEN MILLION DOLLARS...  I passingly thought of Ed McMahon every time I saw a girl in the furry Ugg boots and hummed the Budweiser tune as they trotted by like a Clydesdale.  My niece said today, "Now Ed McMahon will never come to my door with a check for 10 Million Dollars." She was making a joke, but she had a point.  His voice was a reminder of good times with late nights and beer, and the hope of winning money.  He was a gentleman loved by all.

Farrah Fawcett was an Angel.  When I was a child, she was married to the Six-Million Dollar Man and had the hair everyone wanted.  She was in commercials, on TV, had a shampoo, a doll, and the best selling poster of all time.  And people still put her up on the wall.  You know why?  Because the smile was genuine and the body was real.  She was raised a tomboy, but gracious as a princess.  She always went after what she wanted, regardless of the fallout (like leaving Charlie's Angels while it was still a success.)  She had it all, beauty, brains, tenacity, strength, and she had found great love.  In her final days, she didn't give up hope.  And she passed that legacy on to others by filming her fight.  As Ryan O'Neal said, "She was everyone's love, wasn't she?"

Michael Jackson is someone everyone loves to joke about.  He lived a strange, controversial existence.  He became famous as a child, and on some levels, he never grew up.  But that fierce desire to hold on to innocence, to maintain some of that, was the energy that produced the work he is famous for.  He was agoraphobic, shy to an extreme.  But he was a humanitarian.  He wanted the world to be a better place.  He wanted us to stop judging and being hateful and remember how simple and joyful our childhoods were, and to continue seeking that joy.  His music defined the 80's.  Everyone wanted to be Michael Jackson when I was a kid.  My mother continues to relate the story of a little red-haired girl she taught arts & crafts to who insisted she was Michele Jackson.  But even at 50 years old, he was staging a comeback, hoping to remind people of the brilliance of his music and the message in the words.

This week, the world has suffered the loss of people we welcomed into our living rooms every night, who graced our walls and provided the soundtrack to our childhood.  They were far from perfect, but in their work, in their celebrity, they brought joy and hope.  Even as fodder for off-color jokes, they continue to make us laugh.  It is my hope, that this is what will continue to endure as their legacy.