I discovered the untimely death of legendary artist and musician, David Bowie, from my son’s Facebook post. My son simply wrote, ‘BOWIE’, and included one of his favorite Bowie songs. We were deeply saddened by the loss of one of the most talented, multi-faceted music greats. I remember feeling shock and then a combination of pride and relief that I’d introduced my children to Bowie’s music when they were young teens. I love that my adult children join me in continuing to listen to his songs and will continue to appreciate his genius for years to come.
Yesterday I spent the day scouring the Internet and reading hundreds of heartfelt social media tributes to the cultural icon and fine art lover, and with each beautiful message, my heart felt more and more constricted. I felt like crying but I didn’t, which is when I know the hurt runs deep. More than once in my life, I’ve experienced delayed emotional grief and numbness when tragedy struck. Yesterday was one such day.
Today the tears flowed as I listened to Bowie’s songs, and I realized my tears were more than profound sadness for his untimely death. The further back I went into my memory bank with Bowie’s music and my youth, the more I realized I was nostalgic and mourning him and days gone by. My youth. His inspiration. Our huge loss. And that it was okay to be a misfit, an original, because David Bowie was in our lives. He’d paved the way. We are so very fortunate to have lived on planet Earth with such an incredible creative being.
I will miss you forever, David Bowie. Thank you for decades of inspiration and for showing me how to push artistic boundaries in the world, out into the cosmos, and beyond. Rest in peace, Starman.
Terry O’Neill, David Bowie – Scissors, 1974 (1974).
Photo: Artnet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvLnPO9t4Wg
About Eleanor
Puerto Rican novelist, Eleanor Parker Sapia, was raised in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Europe. Eleanor’s careers as an artist, counselor, alternative health practitioner, Spanish language family support worker, and a refugee case worker, inspire her stories.
‘A Decent Woman‘, Eleanor’s debut novel, set in turn of the nineteenth century Puerto Rico, was selected as 2015 July Book of the Month for Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club, and is listed in Centro Voices, The Center of Puerto Rican Studies, ‘Essential Boricua Reading for the 2015 Holiday Season’. Book clubs across the United States continue to enjoy A Decent Woman. Eleanor is featured in the anthology, ‘Latina Authors and Their Muses’, edited by Mayra Calvani. She is a proud member of Las Comadres Para Las Americas, PEN America, and the Historical Novel Society, and she is a contributing writer at Organic Coffee, Haphazardly Literary Society. When not writing, she facilitates creativity groups, reads, and tells herself she is making plans to walk El Camino de Santiago de Compostela a second time.
Eleanor is the mother of two wonderful adult children and currently lives in West Virginia, where she is writing her second novel and a collection of short stories.
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