I wrote the following essay a few years ago recognizing what I thought a mystical connection between myself and Charles Krauthammer. Upon learning of his passing I wept hot tears understanding on a very deep level what his journey was all about. RIP my friend………………..
The more I read about Charles Krauthammer the more I feel a kinship to him, his life and his fate.
Let’s compare. Charles grew up in the shadow of his brother Marcel, four years his elder, whom he idolized. Marcel would take him everywhere and include him in everything. My Marcel was my brother Bob, five years my elder. I have so many wonderful memories of being treated like one of the “big kids”. In fact one year he convinced my father to let him take me away for a weekend with his friends from his job.
I was sixteen at the time and the people for Bob’s work ranged from 19 and up. He told everyone I was eighteen, what a brother, what a time.
Marcel was a physician, and a very successful one indeed. Charles described him as brilliant. Unfortunately Marcel met his end at age 59, leaving Charles to continue on without his best friend. My brother Bob was a Corporate Vice President at the now defunct PaineWebber, which was a mega brokerage house the size of Goldman Sachs at the time. He was in charge of an entire division comprised of 600 employees. He was more than my idol, he was loved by all. I loved him more than words can say. He was my brother, my best friend and for a brief time my business associate. One sunny summer morning while enjoying water skiing with my two nephews and Bob, God reached out and took him from me. He died in my arms of a massive heart attack, he was 47.
Comparison number two. Charles, well on his way to a medical career, attending Harvard, young and vital faced his own tragedy when he struck his head on the bottom of the pool and instantly became paralyzed. In a moment his life changed dramatically. Confined to a wheelchair he fought to complete his school and became a psychiatrist.
At 11:36 AM on August 17, 1979 at Grand Central Station fate intruded on my life. As a young Detective in the New York District Attorneys’ Office Squad, by pure serendipity I became involved in the chase of a bank robber and was seriously wounded. I sat on the floor of the train station waiting for death to take me, as it had the other Police Officer who was chasing the perpetrator, but He passed me bye.
Comparison number three. At the very moment that fate stepped into our lives we, both Charles and I, reached the point where we were “ready” and waited for the grim reaper. Neither of us was taken. Charles rescued by his friend and I by my partner. All these many years later the events are still present but are viewed through a very long lens indeed, no longer carrying the emotional and psychological weight they once did.
Comparison number four - well maybe four and a half. Charles’ life is a completely different one than he began as a doctor. Fate, whimsy, drive and desire moved him along to the becoming a world renowned commentator, author, analyst and TV celebrity. And just recently the author of a New York Times #1 Best Seller. My own life has had circuitous twists and turns since that fateful day. No longer a detective I attended college for the first time at the age of 31, held several different jobs and eventually joined my brother Bob before his death in a company he ran. After fate stepped into my life a second time and took him I recovered from the shock and grief and went on the run a very successful business myself.
Nowadays I find myself transitioning yet again to follow a new path. Again, not dissimilar from Mr. Krauthammer, I have begun to exercise my lifelong desire to write.
I have authored – but not published – short stories, started several novels, children’s stories. I write and publish articles on business topics to gain exposure for my company, but now I write to offer my solitary point of view to a myriad of topics that are secular, spiritual and political.
There are too many crossroads that we have passed on the journey to today. It has been quite a trip, one that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss and I am sure that if Charles can make it then so can I.
As I grieve for Charles and the stillness of his voice I applaud the man he was until the end. Only scant days ago he wrote to the world that he was leaving us. In closing the letter he said that he had was sad to leave but had lead the life he was intended to lead. I only wish that when my time comes I can once again claim a kinship with the great man and exit with such style and grace. Rest In Peace Charles.