And just before the year comes to a close

I woke up this morning…or was it the middle of the night.
I felt that there was going to be bad news…and yes…George Michael
has died …
George Michael was one of those singers who really could sing.
53 …he was just 53.

Sadly with his many attacks of Pneumonia over the past couple of years I do believe he was suffering from SIDA/AIDS…sad price to pay for his sexuality.

I once edited a magazine for Disabled people in London. It was part funded by a small charity. George supplied the money, his sister (a truly lovely woman) administered it. The condition of acceptance was that the donation was kept secret. I am so sad to hear of the death of such a generous and humble man.

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What a truly beautiful story.

You know this for sure do you, or is it just because he is gay?

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Well what seems to be pretty certain is that he was a kind and generous
person and he loved dogs.
Perhaps he was disappointed with the world…

I said…“I do believe” …I did NOT say “I know”…subtle diffference.

So why comment at all then @Keziah - your comment adds nothing - just further upset!

Why such an aggressive reaction.
No question mark…there is no need for that.
Yes George Michael was gay…so what… and it really does not
matter …it is irrelevant to the fact that he was a good person.

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Absolutely Barbara - totally agree - the true and extremely generous extent of his philanthropy is only just coming to light.

Just a shame that some people show their lack of breeding and vocabulary when posting their ‘beliefs’. Did give me a giggle though!! :slight_smile:

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There are ways of expression without bad language and lack of respect.
Let us hope that we leave 2016 with a smile which says" 2017 will be better and
we will help to make it that way"
Hope that you understand what I mean…I am already planning.

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Oh should have been…without using bad language!

I hope you are right Barbara, it seems (or maybe I believe) that 2016 was a truly crappy year.

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2016 a truly crappy year?
Was not good for Bowie, Prince, Michael and Parfitt (In that order in my Rock God evaluation)
The tsunami of European destabilisation due to the aftermath of chaos in the Near/ Middle East and Africa.
Not to mention a renegade called Trump…
I survived a major operation that meant I can now observe the denouement of the above.
So for me… could have been worse…

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Possibly aids…although would that still be being ‘hushed up’ in this day & age…?

I remember being in the Art room at a girls school in Wandsworth, (now defunct) just a few minutes after the Art GCSE had finished and I had collected all the work in from the class that I had taught for just one year, having to get to know them (turning them from 'initially hostile to co-operative and them realising that I was ‘on their side’ and I wanted them to achieve and succeed),…preparing them for this test. The sense of euphoria , that this exam (and most of the other exams) were over too…was palpable…and at that moment the radio was turned on, volume up, heavy on the base, and the girls all singing along with him…(This was long before he came out)…
“Baby…I’m your man !..if ya goinna do it do it right, yeh, do it with me”…etc.

The problem that I have with George Michael, is that despite his wealth, his ‘friends’…he was fundamentally unhappy - and that is very sad…his lifestyle choices,exposing himself to such risk, were the wrong ones and probably drug fuelled (why would anyone not on drugs, regularly have sex with complete strangers ? )…
To quote one rag, quoting him,…
It is surely significant that he left his London home, in Highgate, where Kate Moss was a neighbour, and drugs and casual sex on nearby Hampstead Heath were an ever-present temptation. (He told one interviewer that his daily routine involved getting up, smoking a spliff of marijuana, and going onto the Heath to pick up a partner.) The question, which will eventually be determined by an inquest, is whether he did, indeed, leave his addictions behind — or whether they claimed his life.
I think that drugs and a misconceived ‘over liberated’, dangerous lifestyle, rather than Aids, is responsible…I’m sad that he wasn’t happier.

Ah a teacher!
Happiness is about finding love not just in partnership but with deep
friendship.
George Michael must have missed this in his life.
Sex in the park with total strangers sounds like the act of
a very lonely person.
I too am sad that he died …as it seems an unhappy man.
But he gave some much pleasure to so many with his great voice.

Save me from those saddo people obsessed with other peoples sex lives and habits! In my experience it generally indicates they don’t have a sex life or any vices of their own - essentially they have lived pretty small, sanctimonious lives.

George Michael was an amazing human being, who positively touched and enhanced the lives of millions through his music and generosity. He will continue to do exactly that long, long after his untimely death. Not many of us can say that.

Focus on his achievements for goodness sake!

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By all means …he was talented and he wanted &deserved his success, (although he admitted to not being able to cope with some aspects of fame) and mentioning his lifestyle (which let’s face is not ‘normal’ …or even average behaviour), just makes his life story more perplexing for those of us who live considerably quieter lives.
It’s not about being ‘sanctimonious’…it’s about recognising whether something is in fact ‘good for you’ (safe and psychologically good), as opposed to being good in a moral sense. What he was doing is/was very risky, more so, I would have thought, if one is famous…
I hate the availability and the use of so called, ‘legal highs’…and yes, as a tolerant but caring teacher, I am against the use of even so called ‘soft drugs’…
If I had children of my own, I would be very concerned about the likelihood of their exposure to all this ‘crap’ to do with experimentation, involving their bodies and would hope fervently that good old Common Sense would prevail, that - and the ability to resist the ‘Go on. just be one of the gang’ culture. peer pressure element…The poem ‘If’ comes to mind…good old Kipling !

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I suppose that, as a Daily Mail reader Hilary, you believe everything you read.

I’m not sure (nor do I care) what your definition of ‘normal’ is but it scares me to think you’re a teacher - entrusted with the development of our kids. God help us…

Sure, you can decide what’s good for YOU but you simply CANNOT impose your points of reference on others. You may (?) have some valid points to make but I’m afraid there are lost amongst your overt prejudice.

I was in the middle of a world of music and all the “side orders”
but I did not engage in “free love” and drugs soft of not so soft.
I enjoyed the music, the time and the being there but I was strong.
I was not a great drinker.
But some people did not manage as well as I did.
But we are all so different…