"CARPE DIEM"....my sweet Robin
Simply Said: "Laugh, clown laugh...to keep from crying"
The video above with KoKo the "signing gorilla" was done in 2001. I showed it in my Social Science High School class in my Unit on Animal
Intelligence & Emotion. I was a member of the Gorilla Foundation for a number of years & Robin Williams, a Chairman for the Foundation, visited
KoKo several times. Because Robin was SO hairy....KoKo was absolutely fascinated by him & bonded clearly to him...wore his glasses...played games and hugged. I was teaching KoKo's emotional intelligence and how he showed a wide range of them. When his first "pet"
cat "AllBall"(he named him) was hit by a car on the compound, KoKo DID
cry mournfully ALL night long and signed many words of loss. He was SENT kittens from all over the world and finally CHOSE one like the first one(without a tail breed)he named Smokey. DON'T listen to ANY of the computer "Trolls" with dark hearts ....I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE CRIED & "SIGNED" AT WORD OF ROBIN'S RECENT PASSING.
I too used Humor throughout my entire life to "mask" inner pain & fears.
I too suffered Clinical Depression with treatment at one point AND I,too,
considered suicide when my Dad took his own life and I wanted to follow.
Thank God, and I do everyday, that I didn't in those horrible 15-20 min. that I was alone 6 weeks later. I would have missed so much if I had.
I patterned my teaching techniques from age 42-70 from "Dead Poet Society" and "Patch Adams". In "Good Will Hunting" his description on that bench with Matt Damon on what real love and marriage was about made me cry. I also loved his quick creativity & wit but I think I loved when he was serious even more. I DO feel like I've lost a very wise friend I never actually met...it feels more like Family loss.
A word to his children:(1) I am GLAD his daughter Zelda(a name he probably loved; it is like him.) chose to temporarily wisely withdraw from Twitter and other social media for now. At my Dad's funeral well meaning people said things that didn't help me...."he is better off this way...." "I would do it too, if I wasn't a coward..." to the very hurtful..."hope he doesn't go to Hell for doing it!" When you lose a Father that was also your Best Friend....not too much helps until a little healing time passes.
(2) PLEASE KNOW it had NOTHING to do with loving you...NOTHING!
(3)YOU MUST HONOR HIM & BLESS THE TIMES YOU HAD WITH SUCH AN EXTRAORDINARY FATHER. Your pain IS shared in a small
way by the world that appreciated him.
I loved your Dad. Mrs. Beverly Birge
The video above with KoKo the "signing gorilla" was done in 2001. I showed it in my Social Science High School class in my Unit on Animal
Intelligence & Emotion. I was a member of the Gorilla Foundation for a number of years & Robin Williams, a Chairman for the Foundation, visited
KoKo several times. Because Robin was SO hairy....KoKo was absolutely fascinated by him & bonded clearly to him...wore his glasses...played games and hugged. I was teaching KoKo's emotional intelligence and how he showed a wide range of them. When his first "pet"
cat "AllBall"(he named him) was hit by a car on the compound, KoKo DID
cry mournfully ALL night long and signed many words of loss. He was SENT kittens from all over the world and finally CHOSE one like the first one(without a tail breed)he named Smokey. DON'T listen to ANY of the computer "Trolls" with dark hearts ....I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE CRIED & "SIGNED" AT WORD OF ROBIN'S RECENT PASSING.
I too used Humor throughout my entire life to "mask" inner pain & fears.
I too suffered Clinical Depression with treatment at one point AND I,too,
considered suicide when my Dad took his own life and I wanted to follow.
Thank God, and I do everyday, that I didn't in those horrible 15-20 min. that I was alone 6 weeks later. I would have missed so much if I had.
I patterned my teaching techniques from age 42-70 from "Dead Poet Society" and "Patch Adams". In "Good Will Hunting" his description on that bench with Matt Damon on what real love and marriage was about made me cry. I also loved his quick creativity & wit but I think I loved when he was serious even more. I DO feel like I've lost a very wise friend I never actually met...it feels more like Family loss.
A word to his children:(1) I am GLAD his daughter Zelda(a name he probably loved; it is like him.) chose to temporarily wisely withdraw from Twitter and other social media for now. At my Dad's funeral well meaning people said things that didn't help me...."he is better off this way...." "I would do it too, if I wasn't a coward..." to the very hurtful..."hope he doesn't go to Hell for doing it!" When you lose a Father that was also your Best Friend....not too much helps until a little healing time passes.
(2) PLEASE KNOW it had NOTHING to do with loving you...NOTHING!
(3)YOU MUST HONOR HIM & BLESS THE TIMES YOU HAD WITH SUCH AN EXTRAORDINARY FATHER. Your pain IS shared in a small
way by the world that appreciated him.
I loved your Dad. Mrs. Beverly Birge
