Thursday, December 29, 2016

A Broken Heart?

Can someone die from a broken heart?

Once again, 2016, the year that will not quit, has struck, taking actress, singer and humanitarian Debbie Reynolds from us late yesterday, at the age of 84.

Coming a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher died at the age of 60, we first thought the news that she had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a stroke during planning her daughter's funeral was one of the fake news pieces that clog social media and the Internet.

Alas, it was not.  The sad news came as I was preparing for bed.

So, once again, a short musical tribute.

"Good Morning", where Debbie sings and dances in the movie "Singin' in the Rain".

Tammy, from 1957, a #1 hit song recorded when Debbie was 23 years old.

And, from the 1973 movie Charlotte's Web, a song, Chin Up.

What a career she had. Movies. TV shows.  Voices in cartoons.

It doesn't surprise scientists that Debbie Reynolds may have died from extreme stress brought on by the death of her daughter.  It turns out mother and daughter were extremely close.

And, in fact, I believe this happened to my cousin's husband years ago.  His mother died from cancer, and several days later, his father died from a heart attack.

Nor does it surprise scientists that we, the public, can be so distressed by the deaths of people we don't know.

Now, Debbie Reynolds has joined her daughter.  May the Force also be with her.

Why don't we honor both of them today by telling someone important in our lives how much they mean to us?

11 comments:

  1. I've known a few couples to die days apart. This is sad too.
    A great reminder at the end of the post, Alana.

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  2. Tammy... you know, I like to think that she felt her earthly life was over and she wanted to be with her daughter ....

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  3. Yes, we should all take a moment to let people we love know that they are loved. This year has been so hard

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  4. I'm sure you're right, she died of a broken heart. So sad. I loved her in "Singin' In the Rain", and who could forget "the Unsinkable Molly brown"?

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  5. Well, Carrie was rushing the production about her mom, since it was expected Debbie was going to leave this earth pretty soon. That prediction was correct.

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  6. I truly believe someone can die of a broken heart. I know older people who lost their spouse and the other died several hours later. I could very well have died of a broken heart when my son died earlier this year, but I knew I had to stay for his children and my girls....I will be glad when this year is over...

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  7. sweet tribute. heartbreaking stuff...

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  8. I had a dear friend whose aged parents died within a few days of each other. It was a horrible shock that my friend never recovered from.
    Debbie Reynolds was a survivor & all class. Carrie Fisher was her unvarnished self & I dug it.

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  9. It's well known that people CAN die of a broken heart - or at least from extreme stress. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takotsubo_cardiomyopathy

    With supportive and immediate care, they can usually recover and there's supposedly no great risk of recurrence. But I know someone who almost died of it.

    As a mother, and given Reynolds'age, I imagine she "let go." I am sorry for her son, but no parent wants to outlive a child. It would take a great deal of emotional energy that she probably didn't have left, close as the two were.

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