Remember Everything

Just this week, we, society as a whole may have lost one of the most is not the most inspiring

comedian/actor during my lifetime.  Robin Williams committed suicide shocking us all.  As most of

know I have some personal experience with this as both my sister and then my father have taken

their own lives.  It is a tragedy for anyone to take their life and seems to us as a society that this

act was especially egregious because of his talent and that millions loved him.  I'm not going to

try to explain my beliefs on suicide or defend your belief  but what I want to do is tell you what Robin

Williams meant to me.

Robin will always be T.S. Garp to me.  If you'v never seen the movie "The World According to Garp"

 then it's a must see movie in my opinion.  Any movie with Glenn Close, Robin Williams, Mary Beth

Hurt and John Lithgow is a must see.  Let me tell you that  it wan't the movie that inspired me it was

 Robin's amazing performance that inspired me.  I'm a book snob, the books are always better than

the movies and I mean always.  Except in the case of  Garp.   The book is written by John Irving and

won several awards.  Despite this I could hardly stay interested in it.  I tried, goodness I tried but

I just couldn't do it.  For starters the book is about 6,000 pages long.  No joke it's a long book.  Two;

being from such a small town I couldn't really relate to the characters and the story lines in any

way.  I finally gave up and went to see the movie.  It was magical.  Really and truly it was weird

it was funny and eye opening all at the same time.  Robin gives his best performance in this movie

of all the movies he starred in during his life.  However, here's the reason why I consider Robin to be

one of the greatest actors of our time.

He made the book come alive for me.  After I saw the movie I immediately went back to read the

book and it was magical.  Every line from Garp in the movie was Robin's voice.  Now please

think about this, Robin made a book come alive for me.  Not the movie, he was fantastic in the

movie but the book!  It came alive in my hands and it still resides in a my bookcase to this day.

I will owe Robin for making me realize what an effect an actor can have on a person moving

his mind and heart with his performance.  In the book John Irving ends it with "In the world

according to Garp we are all terminal cases".  I prefer the movie ending.  Garp is dying and his

wife is riding with him and then come his final words to his wife Helen:

T. S. Garp: Remember, Helen.
Helen Holm: What, my love?
T. S. Garp: Everything.
Helen Holm: Yes, my love. 

Yes Robin we'll remember.  We promise.