Wanna Take A Ride On The Teeter Totter?

Finding out that Patrick Swayze succumbed to pancreatic cancer today dealt a tremendous blow. I adored his characters, they always had a good guy quality with a bit of roughness around the edges. He had some great movie quotes other than, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." One of my favorite lines of his was from Next of Kin. He's chasing his wife, played by Helen Hunt, around their house, he catches her, pulls her on top of him and asks, "Wanna take a ride on the teeter totter?" Classic.

He starred in lots of movies I really enjoyed, such as The Outsiders, which everytime while watching I cried. Red Dawn, instilled a sense of patriotism causing me to want to be a wolverine, also. Too Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar, gave me the ability to laugh at myself because of seeing that hunk of a man dressed in drag. He also co-starred with another favorite actor of mine, Sam Elliott. They played in the movie, Roadhouse. I also like the fact that Swayze choreographed the dance steps to Urban Cowboy, the quintessential 70's to 80's crossover film.

Swayze's admiration for his wife has always been another thing I truly liked about him. He worked hard, made some great movies and left me with some wonderful memories. He was a part of my growing up, from the Outsiders to Black Dog. I liked his positive attitude and I strive to carry a bit of that with me. Below is one of his real life quotes, that happens to be quite nice:

"I have a great deal of faith in faith; if you believe something strongly enough, it becomes true for you. I would like to believe that my father is right here with me in this room and that he`s my guardian angel, that there`s life after death -- because if there isn`t, why are we here? I don`t believe that just flesh and bones can contain from the point of view of physics this very real recorded energy inside of us. Whether it`s true or not, we need to believe it."

Mr. Swayze, you truly contained a great deal of energy...so vibrant that it glowed for almost six decades. I believe that you're now a brilliant ball of effervescent light, a luminary gliding effortlessly amongst the heavens.