Why Matthew Perry's light still shines

How many tomorrows?
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If Annie the orphan got it right all those years ago, the sun will indeed come out tomorrow. Which means we’ll get another chance to have our breath taken away as it finds new ways to paint the sky.

It’s been doing it for 4.5 billion years or so, so there’s always another chance to take it in, right?

Actually, wrong. We’re only here for a fraction of that, eligible for only a set number of showings before we run out of tomorrows. We kick the wow moments to tomorrow at our peril, because even if it’s a certainty that the sun will come out tomorrow, there are no guarantees that we’ll still be here to greet it.

I normally don’t comment on celebrity culture, but I’ll make a rare exception this time, as Matthew Perry was 54, and his sudden loss seems like a particularly cruel example of how the universe seems to work.

He battled back from addiction, his gifts of supernatural comedic timing and broadly recognized kindness not only intact, but still brilliant. He brought light to the lives of countless people, many of whom now mourn him despite the fact that they never met him.

We honour his life, and the lives of others like him, by making sure our own light continues to shine, no matter how many times the sun may or may not come out for each of us.

It’s what we do. Or at least that’s how I think all of this is supposed to work.

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