Loss of a legend

We'll miss you, Steve Irwin...

Though I am slow in writing this post, I still felt it was necessary for me to do so.

I had just woken up around 11am a couple weeks ago on a Saturday morning, when I got an instant message from my brother asking me if I'd seen the headlines yet. My mind went spinning off in a bunch of different directions, wondering what I'd missed, wondering how much it affected me. So, I called my parents, and I get my dad on the phone, saying he was sorry to hear the news...what news at that point I still did not know. So, he told me...Steve Irwin had been killed while filming a sting ray documentary - by being stabbed in the heart by a sting ray.

I really didn't respond much at that point...I don't know why. I've always been a fan of him - being an animal lover and a bio major for a while, I just kind of felt like I understood him and his craziness and passion that everyone else just excused as craziness.

I flipped on the TV later, still kind of wondering why people thought I'd be so broken up over it, but as I passed Animal Planet, and they were running a set of three shows of his over and over as a sort of memorial to him...and it was then that I finally started realizing that he really was gone. It had always been sort of an offhanded plan of mine to meet him someday, to go to Australia to see him in action...and now, I knew I couldn't.

It seemed like such a waste to me that this was how he ended up dying...like I thought he would go in more of a blaze of glory than some stupid freak accident. It was such a waste that he left behind two little kids...such a waste that a man with so much passion was taken out so early in his life.

Watching his memorial service was odd...something about it that was a little more final...but it was incredibly sad. His father's comment is one that will stick in my mind for quite a while--"Don't mourn for Steven, mourn for the animals, who have lost their best friend and ally..."

So, we pray for his family, we pray for his friends, that they may find peace in the midst of this tragedy. And we also pray for the animals...that others may carry on his noble work...and continue speaking and working in their defense.

He fought the good fight, and died doing what he loved....you'll be missed, Steve Irwin.

The Crocodile Hunter - 1962-2006