Finn

So... here's my truth. I am a former Glee fan. I watched the show for its first 3 years. I looked forward to each episode. I bought the seasons on tape. I let the characters get under my skin. I thought about them throughout the week. My heart was changed because of some of them...

My favorite character was Finn (always). In the very first episode, he caught my attention. It was because of him I got addicted to the show. Because of him, I watched the show a year longer than I would have. I like what he stood for on Glee. I liked how he treated people. I like the way he worked through his troubles.

I saw the tape of his audition. If I remember correctly, he was a postman in Canada. He auditioned on drums playing on a bunch of pots & pans. He obviously caught the writer's eye too. Much of the show was written around his character.

The media tells us that he & Leah Michelle were madly in love. Now... her life goes on without him,  the love of her life. I cannot imagine the aftershock. Yes... he was an addict. She tried to help him. It seems his coworkers adored him. Perhaps his real life personality was as nice as his character (Finn).

So now people feel a need to put their 2 cents in about his life. Some (like myself) are sad. Others are disgusted. Some say he is a terrible role model and are sick & tired of this pattern in celebrity life, while others point out that this problem is world wide, not just in Hollywood.

I almost think some people think his death is less tragic because of his drug use. I have to say his death is no less tragic because drugs & alcohol were involved. His death is tragic because he was a hurting person. Period. He tried to get it right, but somewhere something failed.

His friends & family may never know what failed. It seemed he was doing well the evening of his death. His loved ones were caught off guard. They are left to pick up the pieces. Try as they might to make sense of his sad death, they likely never will.

His journey with drugs began at age 13. My hunch is that he had no idea where drugs would lead him. He hated his drug use and never wanted his fans to think it was okay to drop out of high school & do drugs. He didn't want them to think you could throw your life away & end up a movie star. Truth is... his death proves his desire to be true.  His drugs took his life. No glory in that.

His drug use didn't make him an awful person or a terrible role model. It simply made him broken like every soul on earth. For families that are concerned about their children, it provides a sad opportunity to walk down that path of destruction with them verbally. It's a learning lesson. It's consequences cannot be undone. A beautiful life was lost. That is the tragedy.