The end of an era

So David Sedaris talks about how when his cat died it felt like the end of an era, "The cat's death struck me as the end of an era. It was, of course, the end of her era, but with the death of a pet there's always that urge to string black crepe over an entire ten- or twenty-year period. The end of my safe college life, the last of my thirty-inch waist, my faltering relationship with my first real boyfriend: I cried for it all and wondered why so few songs were written about cats."

When "The last MASH unit worldwide was deactivated in 2006 in a nod to the increased capabilities of combat support hospitals." it felt mildly like the end of an era. But then I wasn't actually in the Korean war I had just watched Mash repeatedly.

I just found out today though (that's right people, the one who won MASH trivia --uh, right at her birthday party, but still I think it was fair and square-- didn't find out until TWO DAYS LATER), that Larry Gelbart died on the 11th. And so, while he was 81 and only worked on the show the first four years, I still feel like it's the end of the era. God help me when Alan Alda dies (I just double checked to make sure he was still alive since clearly I can't count on any of you to tell me things like this).

I remember my mom crying when Lucille Ball died (or maybe it was when Desi Arnaz died? but that seems so unlikely). Anyway, my dad pointed out that it wasn't like they were going to make any more episodes of "I Love Lucy" and I did think it was odd that she was crying over some celebrity we didn't even know. Now I think, perhaps, she was just crying for the end of that era. Whatever that era encapsulated for her.

P.S. In reference to my post earlier, it would be lovely to just shove our crap in one room and close the door, but there will be 9 people sleeping in our 2-3 bedroom apartment. We don't have a room in the house that will be hidden -- we don't even really have much in the way of closet space to hide stuff.