sad news

A quick entry before I go to bed.

I just found out that Natasha Richardson has died (I had to do that one last check on the news). I'm crying as I write this--I can't imagine what her family and Liam are going through right now. God bless and be with them all. May God surround them all with It's Light, comfort, compassion, love, and understanding. :'-(

March 19: PS TIME has a photo gallery of her life. The obit that they wrote last night (see link above) is absolutely beautiful and extremely well written.

Also March 19: PPS Here's an article from TIME.com explaining what caused her death.

I'm watching a couple of scenes from The Parent Trap and I'm laughing and crying at the same time--this was the only movie that I saw her in, but talk about good acting. The scene where she's drunk and meets Nick (Dennis Quaid) again is absolutely hilarious--even at a time like this. I'm trying not to laugh but that's next to impossible. I wouldn't be surprised if she would've wanted me to laugh.

March 19 (yet again): PPPS Yet more bombardment (that's one of the ways in which I deal during something like this): here's the New York Times' obit, which gives a run-down of her life.

Natasha Richardson--need I say more?

I've been debating about whether I want to post what I'm about to write, but I think I'll just go ahead and post this (no doubt a couple gazillian bloggers beat me to it--she fell on Monday, after all).

As just about everyone knows by now, Natasha Richardson (who's a member of the Redgrave clan of actors, and is married to one of my favourite actors, Liam Neeson) is in a hospital in NYC after an accident during a beginner ski lesson on the slopes of Mont Tremblant, QC. From what I've read, there's virtually no hope of her recovering, which I think is just unbelievably sad--it makes me want to cry right now. I agree with Holly Lebowitz Rossi at Fresh Living:

How are you reacting to this? For me, in addition to feeling heartbroken for Richardson and her family (who we feel we "know" because we know their theatrical work), I feel a tingle of anxiety. It's that "does no compute" feeling of, how can a person be laughing and talking one moment, and gone the next? How can a person be pronounced "ok" [sic] after a fall but reportedly be brain-dead less than 24 hours later?

I have to admit that I'm rather obsessed right now--sometimes I check TIME.com what feels like a dozen times in ten minutes. Or at least I check whenever I see that the homepage is automatically refreshing--like now, at about 7:04 PM. No update.

But CNN does have a rather interesting article about how head injuries that start out small can get worse fast. It's well worth reading (now I sound like my father).

Speaking of obsessed, I watched The Parent Trap on YouTube today. I haven't seen that one in so long--my gosh, Lindsey Lohan was cute (x2)!

In much happier news, Friday is the first day of Spring (and it's the Pagan/Wiccan holiday, Ostara). I plan on really celebrating this year. So far my plans consist of simply going out just before dawn and watching the sun rise. I'll say my morning prayers at that time as well. I just checked weatherunderground.com and according to them Friday will be sunny with a high of +2˚ C (roughly 36˚ F). Happy almost Spring, everyone!