Steve Irwin

I have to admit, I always thought the man was a bit goofy and sometimes -even though I tried- I couldn't sit through an episode of The Crocodile Hunter. I can appreciate reptiles, but snakes are not a 'beaute' to me. Just seeing them on TV would freak me out.

I was a bit sad when I first found out that he died over the weekend. He was just supposed to be around forever! I always loved the occasional costume that I would see on Halloween every year of some kid in khakis carrying a blown up alligator. There was no doubt who that kid was dressed up as!

Anyway...my point to all of this is....Megan seems to be beside herself with grief over the loss of Steve. I know she had seen the news this weekend, but today at school it must have been a topic of conversation on the playground or something. She came home today terribly upset about it.

I think some of it may be that Mike is out of town tonight. It has been a bit of an adjustment since he started school for her since he isn't working from home anymore. A lot of times he has ground school or has to fly at night so she goes to bed without daddy being around.

I think that is what upset her so much about Steve. She feels so bad for their 8 year old daughter and their 3 year old son. She was telling me how sad it would be to never see her daddy again. Knowing that she can't even call him, like she does every week when he is out of town.

Man, it just sucks when kids have to deal with something like this. Especially when they don't know how to handle what they are feeling. I remember it was hard when John Ritter died, because Megan and I used to have a tradition every Tuesday night to watch 8 Simple Rules and have popcorn after the boys went to bed. It was our girl night. Of course then she was so sad that Bridget and Kerry lost their daddy. (Now she gets that it was a TV show, but she knows that John Ritter really did die.)

She just brought down a little alligator that came in a happy meal and said that she wanted to send it to Bindi Irwin since she lost her daddy. She wanted her to be happy. How sweet is that? I just love kids and how they think sometimes.

I'm kind of rambling, but I guess I wanted to say thanks in some way to Steve. I know he was an icon and touched the lives of many other children in the world, but really I had no idea how much he had touched mine.

Now, do I really pack up this alligator and send it off to Australia?????? ;)