full of why

i came to work today, turned on my computer, opened the new york times' homepage and was confronted with the news of heath ledger's death... i am so deeply saddened by this... for multiple reasons. one is that no one, anywhere, should ever have to outlive their children... my heart aches for his parents and his family. for that matter, my heart aches for anyone - my parents included - who have ever or will ever have to outlive their child. my heart also goes out to his little girl... no one should have to lose their parent at such a young age.

this is also so tragic because his life had just started, really. he was so young... and he could have had the opportunity to bring the gift of so much talent to so many via the silver screen... but his light has been tragically and so swiftly extinguished. it's not so much that a famous person has died that makes me so upset, but the fact that mr. ledger's sudden passing throws into sharp relief that so many people are taken - it would seem - so far before their time.

it is nothing less than heartbreaking.

what makes his death even more sad is that the media have begun to sling assumptions about drug overdoses around like so much confetti. all because sleeping pills were found in the same room he died in. i may be mistaken, but i believe that many, many, many people have sleeping pills... there are advertisements for them on primetime tv every single day. now, there are assumptions about 'addicitions' being slung about without confirmation... and that is nothing less than disgusting. high-profile though he was, in the end, mr. ledger was just a person... and every person deserves to have dignity in death.

may mr. ledger rest in peace. and may the world have dignity enough to allow those who knew him to grieve without speculation or slander.