There aren't enough words to describe what the passing of Roger Ebert made me feel. I found out in the final minutes of my lunch break at work, thanks to some fellow film bloggers on twitter. My twitter was overrun with condolences and grievances, and my heart sunk. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it. Roger Ebert, this brave and wonderful man, who had been publicly fighting cancer over the past few years, had seemed so strong in his final days. His final blog post, just two days, prior said he was going to be taking a "leave of presence", where he would take the time to review the films he wanted to review, while focusing on new things, including a new site, while fighting his resurgence of cancer. Some days would be better than others, some where he'd talk about what it's like to fight these things, and other days where he'd just geek out hard over a great film he just saw. He seemed in such high spirits, and in closing, he left this final note, which as beautiful as it was then, seems even sadder and more prophetic now:
So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I'll see you at the movies.I'm not sure if he knew this would be his final piece, but those closing words now make me choke up and bring tears to eyes. The man who made me want to work to become a film critic, and helped me completely embrace my love for film had sadly passed away.
