JANUARY 2025: THE MOST HEARTBREAKING MONTH EVER
I’m writing this one behind a veil of tears, so please forgive me if it’s not exactly coherent. (And even though I’m mentioning my feelings about these horrific events, none of it is about me; I just don’t know any other way to write.)
This country has always suffered sadness and tragedy, but in all my years, I have never witnessed anything as soul-crushing as this past month. Thank goodness I have not. And I pray that nothing like it ever happens again. Even the couple of years of Covid possibly pale beside it.
For some reason, all the pain for everyone involved came pouring out of me while watching Joni Mitchell sing Both Sides Now on the FireAid benefit concert last Thursday night. Everything just caught up with me at once. I was even mentioning her poignant performance to someone on Saturday, and started crying all over again. And in public.
It’s all so devastating, but the plane crash on January 29th, is one of the most heartbreaking events in my lifetime. Especially the loss of so many figure skaters and their coaches and families. Maybe the crash is extra-horrific because the plane was just twenty minutes from landing safely, and passengers had already begun texting their loved ones to say that they’d see them very soon. Or perhaps it’s hurting my soul so much because I have always been involved in the world of skating from the periphery, first as a lifelong fan, and then as a media person who got invited to cover many competitions and shows, and then as a friend of the family who produced Champions On Ice, so I met, and actually hung-out with, many of the skaters for several years at the beginning of the 2000s. (Also, Mr. X’s cousin produced Stars On Ice for many years, so I met many of the cast and crew of that show over the years, as well.)
On top of all that, skating champion and commentator Dick Button died the next day. How eerie. He had lived a long life, so it would not necessarily be painful any other time, but this just added to the distress of the skating community.
Here’s a timeline of the tragic events of last month, several of which will have repercussions for years to come. (I hope I have all of the dates right; those last four dates of the month are a blur.)
January 7—The Los Angeles fires began. And continued for weeks. They are among the very saddest events I’ve ever known. Pacific Palisades is very close to where I live, and I have always loved that area. Having discovered it the day after my 20th birthday, it’s always been magical to me. And the images of the utter and complete devastation of that little town are beyond heartbreaking, as are the ones of the Eaton Fire in Altadena. The extreme pain that thousands of people from these areas are suffering now is beyond comprehension. Both towns will take years to rebuild. There’s so much more to it than just building a house. It’s causing me pain to even list it here right now.
January 20—Just when Los Angeles needs help the most in their history, (as will the rest of the country very soon,) here comes the exact opposite of assistance in the form of the inauguration of Orange Hitler. How is this happening at this late date??? He’s the embodiment of pouring salt in the wounds. I just hope that the world will be able to recover from him and his henchmen in four years time.
January 29—The all-fatal crash of the American Airlines flight with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter killed sixty-seven people! Twenty-eight of those, nearly half of the passengers on board the big plane, were members of the skating community returning from the recent Nationals. It’s not just the skaters and their families I feel awful for, of course—it’s all the people involved.
January 30—And then, the very next day, Dick Button, the doyen of the skating world for many decades, died. When I saw his name in the news, I actually thought it was because he was commenting on the crash.
January 30—The FireAid concert, which raised funds for victims of the LA fires, was performed and telecast. It was wonderful not only in its entertainment value, but that so many artists came together so quickly to help others. And it was perfectly produced, (especially since they went back and forth between two venues, which could have been tricky,) by the Azoff family, who have done so much for LA in recent years, including saving the uber-famous eateries Nate ’n Al and The Apple Pan!
The concert was a perfect combo of old and young artists across so many genres of music, and featured both new songs and classics. For me, Pink sang the best. And even though I’m not a fan of some of the acts, I actually appreciated them all. (Although, truth be told, I could have lived without the Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers sections.)
The three speeches—by Billy Crystal, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jimmy Kimmel—were spot-on, as well.
But there were many elements of sadness to the evening, of course. They rightfully showed features on the devastation from the fires, to remind us to donate to the relief efforts. It’s hard to wrap one’s head around just what these thousands of people are going through, and will continue to do for those years to come, many of them with no place to even live while trying to figure it all out.
But a surprising sadness that I experienced during the show came from the fact that so many of the older performers can not really sing anymore, though they made valiant efforts at doing so. They made me feel like I have finally lost my youth, and that affected me a bit, as well. That’s most likely a part of why Joni Mitchell’s performance hit me so hard.
January 31—And then came the private plane crash in Philly. But, very sadly, we all were almost inured to tragedy by then. All six people were killed, including a little girl on the way back to Mexico after being in the US for life-saving medical treatment. How absolutely tragic. And just the week before, a teen-age boy died after falling off a pole while celebrating the Eagles big win. And now the Eagles have to play in the Super Bowl this Sunday after these terrible events happened in their city.
This is all way too much heartbreak for people to endure.
And now with Orange Hitler’s insane tariff nonsense, things will only get worse for normal folks. So I don’t have high hopes for this month to be much better. At least it’s the shortest one.
As one of my pals ends all her emails, I can only say now: Onward and Upward. Let us hope and pray.
1 Comment
Hey! How are you and Mr. X doing?
Love, “Big Al”