Mork first visited when I was just a kid. Na Nu Na Nu seemed perfectly normal. When Popeye came out he slid so easily into a role that had been a comic strip and cartoon character. He became Popeye. I was never able to see the cartoon or the comics without hearing Robin's voice doing the lines.
He was so associated with comedy that when I first heard the title "The Dead Poet's Society" I wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up loving it and it has always been a favorite. He proved he was so much more than funny. He had heart. He showed more of that in Good Will Hunting. What Dreams May Come.....His eyes showed it. They had a tenderness about them. Even a touch of sorrow. They sparkled with emotion.
We we treated to more hilarity and zaniness with his voicing of Genie in two of the Aladdin movies. I can not even imagine Aladdin being the blockbuster it was without Williams voicing the Genie.
Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, the Night at the Museum movies...the list of movies that brought joy to million's is massive. He also did so much to bring happiness and laughter outside of being on film. Raising money for children's charities, entertaining our troops, giving generously of himself. Only now that he is gone, I am seeing and hearing of other famous folks talking about the things he did for them, the gifts he sent over the years and it seems he was almost generous to a fault! How great it must have been to not only know someone like that but to be able to have called him a friend.
I am no professional, no mental health expert. I won't pretend to know what brings a person to the point that suicide is their only way to stop the pain. I am so sad that the darkness was able to blot out the light that Robin Williams so selflessly shone onto the rest of us. He was a rare and special person that had a gift for making others laugh fully from the pit of their belly until it hurt. He gifted us with all his talent. That the light he gave to us couldn't illuminate his path is heartbreaking.
I am also saddened that the "armchair experts" have come out in force to say negative things about him, about his manner of death, and to cast dispersion at his family, especially his children. They are dealing with something horrible and very personal for them. We loved a public figure. They loved a father. At the very least they deserve privacy to mourn a loved one. I can not even begin to fathom how it must feel when a loved one who is known worldwide, dies and you find yourself trying to work through the normal grieving process while people you don't know are attacking and saying such hateful things.
I truly hope people will stop and remember that while we FELT like we knew Robin Williams, that his children and other family members DID know and love him and they are trying to work through the same emotions any of us would have to after a loved one's death.
I hope those fighting those similar demons can see that there is a light for them. It may seem very small, it may be flickering and threatening to go out, but it IS there. Reach out. Someone cares. They will hold the lantern that lights the way. If you know someone fighting this battle. Don't hesitate to hold the lantern. Be the light on their darkened path. Be the positive when all they can see is the negative.
As for me, I mourn that we have lost a truly wonderful man to something terrible. There will always be a spot that hurts because of his absence, a selfish little spot that mourns the works left unfinished and the things that could have been, but I will honor Robin Williams by continuing to laugh, cry and be entertained by the huge body of work he left us.
Always remember to be kind. Though you may be on the same path as another, the pebble you so easy kick aside or walk around may be a boulder to them.
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Take care of you.
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