DJ AM and the Senator from Massachusetts

Two people in the public eye have died this week. They couldn't be more apart from historical significance but they both affected me more than I ever thought possible.

One - Senator Kennedy.

(political ideology)
Left -------Right.

Senator Kennedy ---------------- Erik

I have always respected him more than any other liberal. There was just something about him. There was just something about him that made me feel more confident in Government. This, "confident in Government" is, of course, anti everything I believe, so I guess he succeeded. Thank you, sir.

Two - DJ AM

Yes.

Who?

I don't know enough about him to try to give you a history of this man, but I knew he was a musical artist, spinning records, making music for a living. I also know he survived a horrible accident recently where other people in the crash died.

He was removed from this earth after a drug overdose. Without reading further into the story, I immediately thought that he was just another artist who committed suicide. Thinking about the recent accident where he was one of a few that survived, I thought he couldn't handle it (whatever "it" meant to him).

Regardless, he was an artist. He got paid for his artistry. We will never know if his overdose was caused by drug mismanagement or if he purposely meant to kill himself. That intrigues me. Was it because he couldn't handle being one of the few that survived the crash or was it because he couldn't handle everything that's included with being a famous person (because of art)?

Is it a coincidence that, as I write this, my computer's music player (on 'shuffle' with over a thousand songs) that I land on a song by Alice in Chains where the lead singer, Layne Staley, also died by overdosing on drugs? I'm sure it's just coincidence.

I may never read anything from, or about, the two of these men ever again. I may listen to something DJ AM produced, but I will never know it. There will be dozens of books written about Senator Kennedy that I will never read. All I know is that I cried after hearing about both of these men's deaths.