Little Men of Mine
Friday, September 08, 2006
Mourning the Passage of a Special Friend
This has been a hard week for Charlie. Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed in a freak accident while filming an underwater special. What are the odds that he would be stabbed through the heart by a stingray? According to the stats we keep hearing, it's a pretty rare way to go.Charlie has been into the Crocodile Hunter since he was about two and first saw him on a Wiggles video (which he then watched about 14 billion times). This summer when he started writing books, his very first one was "The Crocodile Hunter's Greatest Adventure Ever." He wanted to send it to Irwin. I had actually planned to make a color copy (no way I'd part with the original) and send it off to his hero. I never got around to it, and now it's too late.
When we first heard about the accident, Tom and I agreed not to tell him. I figured he'd find out about it eventually, but maybe after this man's importance to him had waned a little. We were successful in keeping it from him for about two days. Well, someone left the TV on in the front room, and he walked in on a newscast describing the incident. He had tons of questions, and although he never cried in front of me, the whole time he was asking about it, his face was beet red, and the little corners of his mouth were turned way down. It was all I could do not to cry myself!
Then there were his questions. "How will they (the family) get money now?" He couldn't understand how they would be able to get along if their daddy couldn't go to work. "Who will make the show?" "Who will take care of the animals at Australia Zoo?" "Will I still be able to see him on TV?" It was heartbreaking.
I'm deeply saddened by Irwin's passing. People keep saying that he was destined to go some way dramatic with all the risks he constantly took. But this was a freaky, one-in-a-million way to meet his maker. I feel so bad for his wife and two children. As big a show-boat as he might have been, he was very skilled and knowledgeable, and did a lot for conservation and preservation. I didn't feel the same way about the Crocodile Hunter as my five-year-old son did, but his death still feels so wrong, and I can't stop thinking about it.
Posted by Jennifer @ 2:42 PM