Dick Clark's Touching New Year's Eve Appearance
Robert Paul Reyes
January 04, 2006
From time immemorial New Year's Eve has meant champagne, confetti, fireworks and Dick Clark.
Every New Year's Eve we get a few more gray hairs, a few more wrinkles, but Dick Clark is the eternal teenager, the man who never ages.
But the 76-year-old entertainer and media mogul suffered a stroke a year ago, and he had given no interviews before his appearance on New Year's Eve.
On Dec 31, 2005 millions tuned in to see if their hero had defied age and illness.
We didn't see the ebullient and ageless wonder, what we saw was an elderly man sitting stiffly behind a desk, one arm apparently paralyzed. His words were slurred, almost beyond comprehension.
Stroke survivors and their advocates were cheered and inspired by Dick Clark's New Year's Eve appearance, I found it touching but depressing.
In Dick Clark I saw my own mortality, no one can defeat old age and death, not even the eternal teenager.
In the immortal words of Clint Eastwood, "A man has got to know his own limitations". Stroke survivors can lead meaningful rich, and fulfilling lives, but stroke victims with slurred speech can't serve as TV announcers.
I won't remember the Dick Clark of 2006, In my mind Dick Clark, the eternal teenager, will always be asking young kids to rate a record.
Every New Year's Eve we get a few more gray hairs, a few more wrinkles, but Dick Clark is the eternal teenager, the man who never ages.
But the 76-year-old entertainer and media mogul suffered a stroke a year ago, and he had given no interviews before his appearance on New Year's Eve.
On Dec 31, 2005 millions tuned in to see if their hero had defied age and illness.
We didn't see the ebullient and ageless wonder, what we saw was an elderly man sitting stiffly behind a desk, one arm apparently paralyzed. His words were slurred, almost beyond comprehension.
Stroke survivors and their advocates were cheered and inspired by Dick Clark's New Year's Eve appearance, I found it touching but depressing.
In Dick Clark I saw my own mortality, no one can defeat old age and death, not even the eternal teenager.
In the immortal words of Clint Eastwood, "A man has got to know his own limitations". Stroke survivors can lead meaningful rich, and fulfilling lives, but stroke victims with slurred speech can't serve as TV announcers.
I won't remember the Dick Clark of 2006, In my mind Dick Clark, the eternal teenager, will always be asking young kids to rate a record.
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