If you have managed to reach this stage in your life and you have not heard the phrase 'Death comes in threes', pray tell, who have you not been talking to?
I heard this phrase growing up in an Italian family. Every time a famous person died, my mother would say that two more would follow. I googled the phrase and found lots of posts about it. Click here for your choice of writings.
Anyway, when I heard that Elizabeth Taylor had died last week, the #3 popped into my head. Logically thinking, famous people die all the time, but I watched the news to see who would be next. Three days later it was the announced death of Geraldine Ferraro. And then, before the week was over, Farley Granger had died. My mother always said the deaths happened within one week.
When I was growing up, 'Liz' was my favorite actress. The first picture I saw in a theatre with her as the star was 'Giant' in 1956. Of course, I had seen several on TV with Bill Kennedy as host on Canadian Channel 9. My girl friend Karen and I decided that she and Rock Hudson were our favorite actors. I bought every movie magazine that had a story about her and amassed quite a collection through high school. I even sent off for an autographed picture.
I have a VHS tape of the movie 'Giant' that was re-issued for the 40th anniversary of the film. Unfortunately, my tape deck is not hooked up to my large-screen TV and Texas loses a lot on a 13-inch screen, which has a built-in tape deck.
The magazines and pictures are long gone. We can only keep so much 'stuff' in boxes for our children to dispose of when we pass. But today, while going through the check-out line in the grocer's, I picked up a copy of People magazine, with a cover story on Liz. I'll sit back tonight and relive my youth and fascination with a very talented and beautiful woman. May she and all those other famous people, who gave us pleasure in watching their craft, rest in peace.
And the next time I hear of a famous person passing on, I'll be waiting to hear of two more.
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