What Happens Now? Thoughts About Kobe Bryant and the Others Who Lost Their Lives in the Helicopter Crash

I have never followed basketball, so I am ashamed to say I never heard of Kobe Bryant until Sunday 1-26-2020 when he and his daughter and seven others were killed in a tragic helicopter crash.

I could not help but think of similar tragedies:

Evangelical singer Keith Green and his two young children and the Smalley family died in a plane crash in the early 1980s, John Denver in the late 1990s, and the husband and son of Trish Porter in 2012. Her son's best friend was also killed in that plane crash.

Also, Former Broadmoor Elementary Principal Nancy Saltaman's husband and two sons died in a small plane crash in 1995. Their photo is permanently in the World Arena Ice Hall to remember them.

Debbie Weinstein Minter's pair partner and his father died on their way to the Midwestern Championships in the late 1970s.

Of course, the entire US Figure Skating Team died in a plane crash in 1961.

Something that was supposed to be fun turned in tragedy for all of these people.

I can't but help but think about how everyone associated with Kobe's Bryant's helicopter tragedy will be forever affected.

So many questions are in my head: What will life be like for Bryant's family now? What will life be like for the children who lost their parents on Sunday?

Trish has sent me holiday cards every year, so I know she and her daughter Shannon are okay and doing great, but I thought of her a lot the past few days. I have read Melody Green's books, so I know she went on and is okay.  Debbie went on to have a full life.

Everyone will be okay, but still I am so, so sad. I just had to write this somewhere. I am crying.