"I Am Crying So Hard I Can't Stop."

This entry was written on my Facebook the second day of Joan Rivers' hospitalization and not long after Robin Williams suicide:

"I am crying so hard I can't stop."

This tweet in regards to Robin William's death received a scathing response on OutQ/SiriusXM. I laughed at the time. There is a lot of criticism out there in Netland to attaching ourselves to a celebrity tragedy or death. A "Look at me, I care!" "I was there first!" A marking of territory.

I am looking at this in another light. We are all human on this Earth together. We are now communicating with each other in a whole new way.

What do we mean to each other? What does a celebrity, whom I have never met, yet their essence has been in my home my entire life mean to me?

I have read music critics who were affected by the death of Phil Everly. My dad loved the Everly Brothers and they were a constant on the ol' turntable or (get this) reel-to-reel every weekend. My reaction was, "Oh, neat."

Stay with me here. "I am crying so hard I can't stop." So there is a presence in our homes. These people mean something. They shape our lives.

Joan Rivers had to hack and forge her way through the male dominated comedy circuit when it was unheard of for women to do so. Through sheer moxie, charm, perseverance, and a scathing wit, she broke the ground that female comics today are merely fortunate to tread on. From a young age, her comedy spoke to me. I understood who she was and what she was doing. Joan Rivers lost the Tonight Show and her husband committed suicide. Old school in every sense of the word, Joan Rivers is a trooper. When we had thought she had faded away, she came back strong on the E! channel to make us all laugh in this mean/notmean, we should all laugh at ourselves style that is hers, and hers alone now days.

And it feels like a bit of a gut punch to the solar plexus. I will not hide my feelings here. I do not know Joan Rivers. I have never met her. Yet her essence was in my home my entire life. These people...these musicians, writers, artists, actors, celebrities, they are in our homes. They make us laugh, cry, think, and join together.

"I am crying so hard I can't stop."

I am thinking that each and every one of us has a writer, musician, actor, poet, artist, celebrity...that one...we didn't even know we cared so much about.

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+-++-++++ Ref: New York Daily News

Joan Rivers on life support as daughter Melissa remains ‘in denial’ about mother’s condition: sources

No decisions will be made about the comedienne’s future for the next few days, according to a report.

Elle Smith: I will add an addendum here. I do not mean to say I was crying over Joan Rivers. But I will not judge the tweeter of "I am crying so hard I can't stop." Robin Wiliam's death was truly horrible for so many reasons and sad beyond comprehension. I am very surprised at the strength of my feelings in regards to Joan Rivers.

[Note:  This was written upon learning of Joan Rivers hospitalization. She has now left this mortal coil.]