They say that celebrity deaths come in threes.
Well, 2016 is putting a lie to that idea.
We are barely into the new year, and already we've lost several icons of stage, screen and music.
Natalie Cole, 65, died New Year's Eve. David Bowie followed 10 days later at 69. Alan Rickman, also 69, died last week, and then Dan Haggerty-known as TV's Grizzly Adams-passed at 74.
Now comes news that Glenn Frey, guitarist and co-founder of the supergroup The Eagles, has died at age 67.
Frey's passing was especially felt in our area. The group has local ties. Founding member Don Henley grew up in nearby Linden, Texas, and is still a presence in the community.
Several lesser known celebrities also passed in the first three weeks of 2016, including Pat Harrington Jr., best known as handyman Schneider on "One Day at a Time," character actor David Margulies, horror film icon Angus Scrimm and musicians Dale "Buffin" Griffin, Clarence Reid and Mic Gillette.
Many readers grew up with listening to their music, watching their performances. Especially readers who are part of the Baby Boomer generation.
You know what that means, don't you?
Yes, age is catching up with the post-war bunch. Their parents-the Greatest Generation, the ones who won World War II-have already seen their icons pass into the great goodnight. Now it's the Baby Boomers' turn.
And it's only going to get worse as favorite entertainers, sports stars and other public figures of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s gather more years and move closer to the light.
Death brings sadness, to be sure. And some Baby Boomers may well be feeling their own mortality as they take note of these celebrity deaths.
But the reality is that each generation makes way for the next. It's always been so, always will be so. You can't change the cycle of life, so it's best to make the most of what time you have.
And to those members of Generation X-those born in the latter 1960s through the early 1980s. Don't get smug. You're next.
