647 views

In Memory of Patrick Swayze

September 19th, 2009 → 10:21 pm @ Angela Odom

Patrick Swayze With His Wife Lisa Niemi At Their Ranch in New Mexico

Now that I’m caught up on all of the computer drama I’ve been having lately, I can turn my focus to current events. Of particular note is the death of Patrick Swayze.

If I can say this — and I will — I loved me some Patrick Swayze. It was not his rugged good looks or the sometime Texas drawl he had, though I did find it attractive and cute, and it was not so much his films I liked though it appears I have seen just about every film Swayze made an appearance. No, what fascinated me most about Patrick Swayze, what I loved so much about this man was he owned himself. I don’t care if the man appeared in a commercial, an interview or in a film, his presence and sense of self was always present and I admired that about him. He gave an air of integrity and honesty that is so rare to see and certainly, hard to come by.

I think I was also fond of him because he stayed married to the same woman for more than 30 years. In Hollyweird, something like that is hard to find. Most will turn the way of the wind or flashing lights at the slightest breeze or a casual flip of the switch. Trust me, I’m not saying the man was an angel, I didn’t know him personally and for all I know he might have been a big pig but, something has to be said for couples who choose to work out problems in a relationship. Couples choosing to do this borders on looking for a needle in a haystack, it’s hard to find.

The man owned himself, he did not cow tow to Hollyweirdness and he appeared to stay true, or better put, stepped to the beat of his own drummer. Like it or lump it, that’s who he was and even when diagnosed with pancreatic cancer he owned his illness as well. I admired him, from beginning to the unfortunate end, I admired him and he goes down in my book as a kind of mentor because he owned himself.

Patrick+Swayze+KygMjsmvGuOl Much was made of images taken of Swayze puffing hard and strong on cigarettes after his diagnosis. Sure, cigarettes cause cancer and this might have been the contributing factor to his pancreatic cancer but, knowing there was no good outcome won’t change the bottom line and why not continue smoking. To be honest, I loved he chose to continue living his life — good or bad — doing it his way and so what if you take a photo of me smoking. I often wondered if those who criticized photographs of Swayze smoking were guilty themselves of doing crazy things that could equally lead to their own demise like eating too much salty or processed foods to end up with high blood pressure or a stroke, or drinking while driving. Truth is, we’re all going to die one day and we may not like the way it happens. I knew a woman who did not drink or smoke who died from pancreatic cancer.

In his interview with Barabara Walters Swayze talked about the line he recited from the movie Ghost. In the film Swayze said you take the love you have inside with you. I believe he did and it was something he lived before, during and after he recited that line in the movie. From the young 16-year-old girl he met at his mother’s dance school when he was 20 and whom he married, to all of those he met and entertained along the way. In fact, during the interview with Barbara Walters he and his wife talk about the amount of love they received from others.

We lost a huge star and I don’t mean in the Hollyweird sense of the word, a star that shown brightly. He owned himself and I loved it and I loved watching him, not for his acting so much, I loved his presence and strength. He will be missed and just as an aside, my favorite Swayze films were Dirty Dancing and Ghost.

Much love to his wife Lisa Niemi who reportedly has been inconsolable since his death, I know the feeling. Good men like that are truly hard to find. He was a man’s man and he didn’t have to run over things, blow up things, chase down 50 women in a film as conquest to prove it. No, he was simply a man — a very masculine one at that — and when he entered a room, you knew it. He did not need to over testosterone himself to prove it. You knew, he owned himself, it was present and most admirable. There are very few men out there like that and how I wish there were more.