This week two people who played some of my favorite characters in this story we call life turned the last page on their earthly journeys. It’s hard for me to imagine their passing. The characters they played will live on, but there are people, real live people, who play the parts of the characters that touch our lives. And because we live in this real world where death comes to all, no matter how revered or reviled, there comes a time when we must say goodbye, even if we aren’t ready.

These two men through the wildly different characters they played taught me something about myself: about the value of steady, true affection; about the cost of doing what is right; and about how to face and even embrace my shadow nature.

The story is changing, as it always must. And so today I light a candle for these two, and remember the characters they played that first and most impacted me.

JAH_Colonel-Brandon-Alan-Rickman-jane-austens-heroes-9173033-1024-576
Alan Rickman as the ever tender and noble Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility
snape
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series
jareth
David Bowie as Jareth, Goblin King in Labyrinth

Rest. Peace. And thank you.