A Tribute To Robin Williams

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

A Tribute to Robin Williams

Don DeForge, VMD

"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien - but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets!" President Barack Obama

Robin Williams has always been my hero.  I live with the memories of Mork and Mindy....his break through television sitcom and relive his epic dramatic and comedic screen contributions which were continuing until his untimely loss.

Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire

I cannot write this blog today with a description of how Robin died.  I will leave that for the news media.  This blog is not about Robin William's death but about his life.  I dedicate this song to Robin....My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.....by Willie and Wayland

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys-Willie NelsonI grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy,
and Lovin' the cowboy ways.
Pursuin' the life of my high-ridin' heroes,
I burned up my childhood days.
I learned of all the rules of the modern-day drifter,
Don't you hold on to nothin' too long.
Just take what you need from the ladies, then leave them,
With the words of a sad country song. 
My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.

Cowboys are special with their own brand of misery,
From being alone too long.
You could die from the cold in the arms of a nightmare,
Knowin' well that your best days are gone.
Pickin' up hookers instead of my pen,
I let the words of my years fade away.
Old worn-out saddles, and 'old worn-out memories,
With no one and no place to stay.

My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.

Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams

Maybe this song is Robin: "Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams......"  

One of the most intelligent of all comedians who could one day make you laugh and the next day make you think in many of his dramatic roles on the screen.  My hero was taunted by drugs, alcohol, and depression as he gave back a smile; made me laugh; and made me cry.  

Jonathan Winters was one of Robin's idols.  They were hilarious together on the last few seasons of Mork and Mindy.

At the time of Jonathan's death Robin writes: "Jonathan has shuffled off this mortal coil. So here’s to Jonny Winters, the cherubic madman with a stick who touched so many. Damn, am I going to miss you!" [Mortal coil is a poetic term that means the troubles of daily life and the strife and suffering of the world. It is used in the sense of a burden to be carried or abandoned, most famously in the phrase "shuffle[d] off this mortal coil" from the "To be, or not to be" monologue in Shakespeare's Hamlet.]

Today...Robin Williams has shuffled off this moral coil away from the strife and suffering inside himself that he hid from all of us so well. His burden is now gone but ours is here.  We must not remember Robin's leaving this world but how he protected all of us from "this moral coil" with laughter and those amazing ad libs.

"The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'" — Robin Williams.

I will remember Robin by this ad lib and all of the other lines that he wrote.  Even though sadness consumes my soul as I write....the wonder of knowing him through his comedy and the happiness he has brought to my life will not allow this feeling of wonder to be replaced by negativity.  Robin Williams is my hero; will always be my hero; and I thank him for doing all that he did to bring his humor to millions.  Good night my friend!

"My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams."