When a Celebrity Dies

I've often heard that bad news comes in 3s. I hear this more often when someone dies. The media has reported two recent celebrity deaths and already people are holding their breath for the third.

Many dedicate their Facebook statuses, tweets and blogs to memorialize the actors and singers who have died. They share their favorite songs from the artist or their favorite movie depicting the actor. While memorializing someone who has died is a normal part of the grieving process, I wonder if these same people do something similar when a family member or friend dies.

As a society, we are growing more and more comfortable with death, though it has been a slow process. So many still don't know what to say when they hear of a death, so they say nothing at all. Why not share a favorite memory, a quality you admired, much like people do when they hear of a celebrity death. Why should we restrict this honor to people we have never even met?

On this Memorial Day weekend, let us honor the fallen soldiers, but also remember our loved ones who have died. Today I choose to remember my grandfather and the silent strength he held during World War II. I choose to remember his blue eyes every time I look into my son's. And I choose to remember how he jokingly put an onion in a gum wrapper and passed it off as Juicy Fruit. (To this day I will not eat onions!)

Who will you choose to remember?