dana reeve
Thursday, March 9th, 2006i read in the paper that christopher reeve’s wife dana has passed away. she survived her husband by only a year and a half.
call me unforgivably sentimental, but those are the stories that make me turn to mush inside this cold cynical shell. (am i an M&M? that’s another story…)
imagine this– you are a young couple at the top of the world. newly married, successful actors, with the rest of your lives ahead of you. then superman goes and gets his spine broken. the perfect picture is shattered. from trophy wife, you become nurse, physical therapist, personal cheerleader. the future is bleak, your handsome young husband will never hold you again. you are struck by the fragility of human life…how someone so strong, so alive, bordering on perfection even, could transform into this needy, dependent, broken man-child.
if you can stand by this man, and watch him suffer, and feel your own heart break each time he asks for help in bathing, eating, or washing himself…if you can forego your dreams of that glittering future as a star, a cinematic princess, a world-changer, to make room for his wheelchair, neck brace and porta-potty…if you can hold his hand as he slowly dies his sad death, all the while forgetting that you too may be facing your own, then THAT IS LOVE.
she died of lung cancer at age 44. wasnt even a smoker. life is full of bitter ironies.
then again, it is also full of opportunities for grace.
sometimes, people amaze me.
