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<\/a>What we all feel like right now.<\/p><\/div>\n
This country has always\u00a0<\/em>suffered sadness and tragedy, but in all my years, I have never witnessed anything<\/em>\u00a0as 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.<\/p>\n For some reason, all the pain for everyone involved came pouring out of me while watching Joni Mitchell sing Both Sides Now<\/em>\u00a0on the FireAid benefit concert last Thursday night.\u00a0 Everything just caught up with me at once.\u00a0 I was even mentioning her poignant performance to someone on Saturday, and started crying all over again.\u00a0And in public.<\/p>\n Joni Mitchell, mirroring all of our broken hearts on FireAid. Photo by Karen Salkin, (off TV.)<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s all so devastating, but the plane crash on January 29th, is one of the most heartbreaking events in my lifetime.\u00a0 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\u2019d see them very soon. Or perhaps it\u2019s 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<\/em>, so I met, and actually hung-out with, many of the skaters for several years at the beginning of the 2000s. (Also, Mr. X\u2019s cousin produced Stars On Ice<\/em> for many years, so I met many of the cast and crew of that<\/em> show over the years, as well.)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n No words necessary.<\/p><\/div>\n Here\u2019s 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.)<\/p>\n January 7<\/strong>\u2014The Los Angeles fires began. And continued for weeks. They are among the very saddest events I\u2019ve 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\u2019s 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\u00a0to rebuild. There\u2019s so much more to it than just building a house.\u00a0 It\u2019s causing me pain to even list it here right now.<\/p>\n Just one of the many LA fires. Photo by Karen Salkin, (off TV.)<\/p><\/div>\n January 20<\/strong>\u2014Just when Los Angeles needs help the most in their history, (as will the rest of the country very soon,) here comes the exact opposite<\/em> of assistance in the form of the inauguration of Orange Hitler. How is this happening at this late date??? He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n January 29<\/strong>\u2014The 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\u2019s not just the skaters and their families I feel awful for, of course\u2014it\u2019s all<\/em> the people involved.<\/p>\n January 30<\/strong>\u2014And 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.<\/p>\n January 30<\/strong>\u2014The FireAid concert, which raised funds for victims of the LA fires, was performed and telecast.\u00a0 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 \u2019n Al and The Apple Pan!<\/p>\n Pink singing her heart out.<\/p><\/div>\n 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\u2019m 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.)<\/p>\n The three speeches\u2014by Billy Crystal, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jimmy Kimmel\u2014were spot-on, as well.<\/p>\n But there were many elements of sadness to the evening, of course.\u00a0 They rightfully showed features on the devastation from the fires, to remind us to donate to the relief efforts. It\u2019s hard to wrap one\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n But a surprising sadness that I experienced during the show came from the fact that so many of the older performers can not really\u00a0sing 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\u2019s most likely a part of why Joni Mitchell\u2019s performance hit me so hard.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>