There was a wonderful piece in the Times this past week about The West Wing, a show that I will miss more than I can possibly say. The writer gets at what the show has meant to me, over and above how I feel about the characters and the actors who portray them. While watching our country being led (or maybe I should say "dragooned") into a world that I can barely stand to live in, it was more than just comforting to be able to lose myself in a world so very much better than it could ever be in real life, one where I would be able to once again be proud to be an American and have hope for the future.
I have to admit to having had a crush on Martin Sheen for many, many years, even before he was in Apocalypse Now, when he still played mostly skeezy lowlife bad guys. But as the years have gone by and I became aware of his activism and his deeply-held beliefs, I have so much respect and admiration for him. The Times article says that he's going to go to college now--I am so very happy for him. I hope he finds the experience of learning as an adult to be as amazing and as wonderful as I did.
These Sundays, I am left with a deep, abiding sadness that lives in my gut. I know it will end soon and I--and so many others--will be bereft of the intelligence, love and humor of this show. It's a sadness that's almost unbearable.
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