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Blog Entry 51 of 51 Something to think about...

An occasional visit to things that make you go "hmmm..." opinions on life in the world close up and far away. By trade, I'm a community reporter covering Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys for the Daily News, but can't help thinking outside the box sometimes...in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm involved with the Canyon Theatre Guild and Newhall Redevelopment, so history and the arts are pretty important to me. I'm open to discussions, suggestions, criticisms and compliments. I might not like what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it. Shall we?

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It comes in threes, but it's still not fair

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Contributed by: Carol Rock on 10/3/2007

Life is too short.

Life is also unpredictable.

Life doesn't always give us second chances.

Life is something to cherish, nurture, exploit, enjoy and use to the very fullest.

And it's gone in an instant.

Life also tends to follow some of those weird old wives tales that our mothers passed on and we, as potential old mothers, are passing on to our children, like the notion that death comes in threes.

I've just heard about my third in a long time, but the fruition of superstition doesn't make it any more bearable.

On Sunday, Tatiana Weiss, the daughter of a dear friend, passed away. She and my oldest daughter were the same age - 27 - and were both part of the original pack of theater rats that have grown up in the Canyon Theatre Guild.

Tati had taken her unstoppable talents on the road, excelling in the arts in college and working the boards across the country. She had a smile that literally went from ear to ear and a wonderful voice and spirit. Her parents, especially her mother, Stephanie, were bursting at the seams proud of her.

Tati took a fall down some stairs a few weeks ago, severely injuring her foot. She was supposed to have surgery, but collapsed on Sunday. Doctors say a blood clot traveled to her heart and lungs, snuffing out her young life far too soon.

It's just not right. It's just not fair. Physiologically, it makes sense. Psychologically, this is one of nature's biggest mistakes.

A week ago, during an unseasonal deluge at Eternal Valley, the Rennels family buried their patriarch, Brody. He died the previous Monday after a valiant fight with leukemia.

Brody was a fixture at the theater and his large family expanded to welcome all the rest of us. When he went into the hospital, we waited with baited breath. There were good days and bad days, times when we weren't sure if we should call, followed by murmurings that the family had been summoned to say goodbye just to find him sitting up watching a movie. It ended peacefully, with his family surrounding his hospital bed.

Brody taught me a very critical lesson in life: how to bump and grind with a live band. An avid drummer, he was part of the first live band to play for a musical at the theater. The show was "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum" in which I was playing one of the courtesans. Unaccustomed as I was to dancing, I was nervous when I looked into the pit and saw this beaming countenance shining back at me. Brody assured me that he was thrilled to be there and would help me so that by opening night, we'd be a well-oiled machine. "You bump and I'll bang the drum" he advised. Together we stopped the show.

When our sons were serving the U.S. Army in Iraq, seeing Brody was both a reminder of the danger they faced and reassurance that everything was going to be all right. Both Kerry and Brad returned safely. Brody was opinionated, to say the least, always willing and eager to share life lessons with anyone patient enough to sit down and listen.

Again, a drum beat silenced far too soon. I was hoping that we'd do a revival of "Forum" someday and reassemble the cast and band. Now he's playing in a much larger group, demonstrating his skills for the heavenly bodies with thunderous claps the morning of his funeral. Nature? Nope. Brody showing off.

Just a week before, another dear friend's daughter, Jen Maihori, died after a return bout of cancer. She and my daughter, along with the twins up the block and a few other girls, were a force of nature. They didn't care if she wore a wig after her chemo at age 16 - you really can't tell in the pictures of them clubbing at the Whiskey in Hollywood that one of the '05 Girls was very sick.

She didn't let it stop her either, fighting back and graduating with her class at Canyon High School, becoming a cheerleader at Santa Monica College and one of the biggest Disneyland fans I've ever met. She and her favorite character, Stitch, seemed to have the same attitude - bring it on, because I'm ready to give you all I got.

When she died at home, her parents at her side, I felt like a hole had been ripped in the universe. How could life rob her of a future - marriage, career, children - whatever she might have tried and accomplished? How dare anyone say it was "for the best" or "meant to be?"

Yes, there are lessons in this. The obvious one? Life is short and unpredictable and completely, totally and absolutely unfair.

Like I've told my kids, "Who promised you fair? They lied."

I'm just having a hard time dealing right now. I need to go home and hug my family and friends.

You should do the same.

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