Grateful for their lives

Saying goodbye is never an easy task.  I much prefer saying hello.  This week though has seen the lives end of an excptional number of famous people.  Among the many who have died are Bruce Kirby, Cicely Tyson, Tom Stevens, Carmen Vázquez, Cloris Leachman, Tseng Chang, and Corky Lee.  

Any of these people could easily be written about separately as each one of them gave back so much to society and made a differenct in our world.  For Kirby, Tyson, Leachman, and Chang, it was through acting, but more than just their performances.  They each were firsts at something.  Long Ryders bassist Tom Stevens gave us the gift of music.  Corky Lee and Carmen Vázquez were activists and Corky documented so much with his ever-present camera.

A lot of their work you already know about, but some things might not have gotten as much attention. Cloris Leachman was a Grand Marshal at the 2009 LGBTQ Pride Parde in San Francisco. Her dedication to animal-rights issues is was another one of her passions. Ms. Vázquez was the founding director of the Women's Building in San Francisco and also helped found the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in San Francisco, and the LGBT Health & Human Services Network in New York City. Mr Lee's photos are legendary and even he called himself the "Self-appointed undisputed, unofficial Asian American photographer laureate."

Someone said to me that these people led full lives and we shouldn't be sad.  Full lives indeed and so many contributions to our world.  Still, while I am grateful for their lives, I am sad that we will not be seeing them again.