It may sound crazy, but I feel genuinely sad over his passing, almost like I lost an actual friend. And maybe I did?
Maybe we all did.
Friends began at pivotal point in my life, at the beginning of my senior year in college. Every Thursday night, my 7 roommates and I would order Chinese food and a keg of Bud Light, hang out in our CT beach house off campus and start the weekend a little early watching our older, cooler "friends" who lived an hour's train ride away in NYC.
I just turned 21 when the show began in September 1994 and I was 30 in May 2004 when they aired the last episode. As the Friends navigated their way through adult life, lessons and loves, so did I.
Friends became my happy place.
And in the past three decades, it is a place I've visited, and revisited, and re-re-visited often, especially during hard times when I really needed a smile.
I love every character. I know every episode by heart. I laugh at every joke. I can recite every line. Watching this show is like wrapping myself up in the coziest blanket with the sweetest smell of home.
Could there BE a more perfect theme song? I'll be there for you.
Learning in recent years how much Matthew was suffering with drug and alcohol addition while Chandler was bringing millions of people -- like me -- so much joy makes me super sad too. But it doesn't change how I feel about the show. Watching those seasons, knowing what I know now, I'm even more impressed with his talent as an actor and his timing as a comedian during those dark days.
He seemed earnest in trying to get his life back on track, but maybe his body just couldn't take it. Couldn't recover anymore. My heart breaks for his friends, Jennifer, Courtney, Lisa, Matt and David. Mourning one of their own at age 54 feels so wrong.
It wasn't supposed to end like this.
RIP Chanandeler Bong. I'll miss you. Thanks for the laughs, Matty, may you rest in peace.
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