A day full of highs and lows
Apr. 18th, 2012 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windandwaterR.I.P. Dick Clark.
I've watched him on TV pretty much every New Year's Eve for my whole life. Even if other channels had their NYE celebrations on TV (and with better performances/people showing up), I always watched New Year's Rockin' Eve because I felt it was the "real" New Year's celebration. And I've always wanted to celebrate NYE in New York with all the people in Times Square even if it would be crazy and loud and bitterly cold.
I know the past years after his stroke affected him terribly. It always made me sad to think that someone I've seen and had good memories with would suddenly disappear from my universe of experiences. It's sort of like when John Paul II died; he was my Pope. He was the one I'd known my whole life, I was fond of him even if I'd never met him, and I didn't want there to be another.
But Dick Clark kept hosting every single year (except 2004 since that's when he had the stroke).
He persevered. He proved to the world that you can recover from a tragedy and still go on with your life. He wanted to make the people who watched and celebrated happy along with him. Even though it was obvious that hosting was becoming an ordeal for him, he still wanted to do the show he's been known for and made famous around the world. He even said: "Last year I had a stroke. It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there." This is the kind of hope, strength, and spirit that should be praised and applauded, even if you're not family, or a friend, or a neighbor, or even met the man at all.
It won't be the same without him counting down to ring in the new year.
Dick Clark is my New Year's host.
I've watched him on TV pretty much every New Year's Eve for my whole life. Even if other channels had their NYE celebrations on TV (and with better performances/people showing up), I always watched New Year's Rockin' Eve because I felt it was the "real" New Year's celebration. And I've always wanted to celebrate NYE in New York with all the people in Times Square even if it would be crazy and loud and bitterly cold.
I know the past years after his stroke affected him terribly. It always made me sad to think that someone I've seen and had good memories with would suddenly disappear from my universe of experiences. It's sort of like when John Paul II died; he was my Pope. He was the one I'd known my whole life, I was fond of him even if I'd never met him, and I didn't want there to be another.
But Dick Clark kept hosting every single year (except 2004 since that's when he had the stroke).
He persevered. He proved to the world that you can recover from a tragedy and still go on with your life. He wanted to make the people who watched and celebrated happy along with him. Even though it was obvious that hosting was becoming an ordeal for him, he still wanted to do the show he's been known for and made famous around the world. He even said: "Last year I had a stroke. It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there." This is the kind of hope, strength, and spirit that should be praised and applauded, even if you're not family, or a friend, or a neighbor, or even met the man at all.
It won't be the same without him counting down to ring in the new year.
Dick Clark is my New Year's host.
