CLEVELAND, OH – You know how your day goes – you’re at work watching the clock and your smart phone is sitting right next you. You watch the hours and minutes tick by hoping the work day’s end is coming to a close soon. You glance down and start scrolling down your Facebook and Twitter feeds on daily basis. Every once in a while, you come across something disturbing. When I saw the news of famed actor/comedian Robin Williams death on my feeds, my heart dropped. At first, I thought it was a hoax and waited for the “You’ve been duped” screen to appear. I was wrong.
You see, Robin Williams was part of my childhood and stayed with me into my adult years. As a huge fan of Disney, it’s not the Genie I see in “Aladdin”, it’s Williams. In “Hook”, he taught me about imagination and believing in something. Filmed in Malta (where part of my family comes from), a young Williams brings the spinach eating cartoon “Popeye” to life we all admired as kids. At only 8 years old, I was too young to understand the full concept of “Good Morning Vietnam”, but no one will ever forget his radio personality blurting out those same words to doomed soldiers every morning. Shortly after, I learned an important lesson and found the holy grail in “The Fisher King”. In the powerful film, “Dead Poet’s Society”, we all learned what “Carpe Diem” meant. I discovered the grandmother I never had in “Mrs. Doubtfire” in middle school. And finally, because of Bob Munro in “RV”, it is on my bucket list to take my family across the country in a Winnebago! The list goes on, but those were my favorites.
When I learned of his suicidal death on Monday night, to say the least, I was sad. It amazes me that actors and athletes have all the money and fame in the world, but deep down still hurt like some of us. At only 63 years old, Williams leaves behind a legacy of films that made us laugh, cry, and relate to each other. Williams’ tragic news is a terrible lesson to all of us that suicide is a disease and that more attention needs to be paid to one another. No ones’ life is perfect even with all the fame and fortune in the world.
From of all your fans, thank you Mr. Williams for touching hearts, opening our eyes, and making us laugh uncontrollably for many years. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for doing your craft so well and making the world smile with your characters. You may have never met me, but “You ain’t never had a friend like me!”.
R.I.P Robin Williams 1951-2014
Ryan Ruiz is a Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Email Ryan at ryan.ruiz@http://198.1.111.123/~theinscr