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Thursday, March 19. 2009
Life is Fragile
Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson, mother of their two sons, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, is dead. She fell on a beginners ski slope in Canada, felt ill an hour later and was taken to a hospital in Montreal. After that she was flown to a hospital in New York where she slipped this mortal coil.What a terrible tragedy; Richardson was a great actress. I’ve only seen her in films, but apparently her stage presence was something to behold; she won a Tony Award in 1998 for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in Cabaret.
The first movie I remember was the controversial (for the time) film A Handmaid’s Tale, in which she played a woman who was sentenced to be the concubine of a government official so she could bear his children. The controversy was over the setting: America is taken over by right-wing religious fanatics who institute new laws based on their interpretation of The Bible.
As a twist, most women in America are sterile due to pollution, but Richardson’s character, Kate, is one of the few who can bear children so when she is caught trying to escape from America, she is sentenced to be a “handmaid.”
Robert Duvall plays Fred, the security official that becomes Kate’s owner and Faye Dunaway, the commander’s jealous wife. Aidan Quinn is Nick, the commander’s chauffer and the man with whom Kate falls in love.
She was also in Nell, in which she plays a psychology student who wants to study a young woman, Nell, played by Jodie Foster, found by a local doctor (Liam Neeson) living feral in the woods of North Carolina.
A battle of morals and ethics takes place as the student and doctor struggle with how best to treat Nell; whether she should be left alone in her home (the woods) or studied and treated in the university hospital.Those are really the only two movies that stick out in my mind when I think of Richardson, although she’s been in many others. She was never an actor whose career I followed, can’t really think of any actors, male or female, that I rush off to see every time they are in a new film, but Natasha Richardson was always a good reason to see a film.
Richardson looked so much like her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, it was spooky seeing her on screen that first time. Natasha Richardson will be missed in the film world, but not nearly as much as her family will miss her, especially her two young sons.
The death of Richardson is a reminder of how fragile life can be; how important our relationships with loved ones are; to live as if there will be no tomorrow. At some point for all of us, there is no tomorrow. In Richardson’s case, it came suddenly, without warning.
My brother Carl, while quite ill, died suddenly of a heart attack in the Veteran Administration Medical Center nearly three years ago. But I was able to be with him in the moments before he died, he joked with neighbors as paramedics wheeled him out of our condo on a gurney. I actually expected him to be home in a few days. Minutes after being admitted into the V.A. urgent care, he had a heart attack and died. So unexpected.
It’s something to think about as I prepare for open-heart surgery in four days. I want to speak with all my brothers and sisters once this weekend before I go into the hospital. All are living in states far from California so they won’t be here Monday when I go into surgery. But I have kind and loving friends, many of whom will be with me and there’s nothing more important than our loved ones, whom ever they are.Talk about coincidence, the V.A. just called and pushed my surgery back three days to Thursday, March 26. I’m laughing at the moment. As precious as life is, it still marches on and with the V.A., that march can seem like a dirge! Oh well! I actually had the chance to have the surgery two days ago but declined. I just didn’t have my psyche wrapped around the idea of going into surgery in less than 24 hours.
Life is fragile; we have lost a creative talent. Be sure let the ones you love know they are loved — today, as if there is no tomorrow.
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