My Heart Is Broken!

Patrick Swayze has died. I knew he would. It was only a matter of time...but I still hoped the best for him. *Paragraph break.* I am not much of a groupie, but I love serious performers. Performers who seem to be having fun doing what they are doing. Dancers, of course, are the best for me. In the "sexiest men alive" category, I can only list three performers: Richard Gere from An Officer and a Gentleman and Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and John Travolta from Grease. But my clear favorite of the three was Swayze. *Back in the mid-80s, when Meg was about 5, Hollywood came to our little town in Illinois (Pontiac) to make a film. The stars were: Jamie Lee Curtis (then only known for her horror films), Patrick Swayze (who was an unknown), C. Thomas Howell (who was in E.T. the Extra-terrestrial and many other films, Elizabeth Gorsey, Troy Donahue (an aging star), a tiny first-appearance by a young man named John Cusack, who went on to star in a lot of films...and a couple of other character actors that you would recognize by face but not name. I was hired as an on-site tutor for a 13-year-old gal who was also in the film. (Hired because the producers called my then-husband who was the principal of the junior high then...and he suggested me!) Thus, for the one week that Melissa was in filming, I was on the set, rubbing elbows with famous people! *The movie was a pot-boiler, Grandview, USA. I'm not even sure it shows up in Swayze's list of films. Perhaps he would like to forget it...but it was the biggest thing to happen to Pontiac--and to me--in a very long time! I learned a lot about Hollywood that week. (That's a whole other blog post!) In any case, Mr. Swayze's death hurts me because he was one of the good guys...and he was only 57. Can't say that about too many Hollywood figures! It's so weird that he died today, though, because I spent an hour last night watching him on Youtube with "Dirty Dancing" videos. *Meg is in Terre Haute with a fever of 102, vomiting and diarrhea. I told her not to come home! Thus I did double duty with the children this evening in an effort to get everyone to their various activities (soccer and Brownies) in time and with supervision. Had to cancel out on cardiac rehab in order to get everything done, and missed my radio club meetins (again) but we all survived. * I have the Black Eyed Peas' flash mob performance on Oprah's opening show for her 29th year emblazoned in my brain. My grandchildren know the song! *Good night, and God bless...