Patrick Swayze Rest In Peace

I was sad to hear of the loss of Patrick Swayze.  He had passed away from pancreatic cancer after fighting it for 20 months.  I was thinking about how he had influenced my life through his acting.  I have watched his movies since I was a young teenager.  He always portrayed a sensitive male character.  Those abs of his were legendary.  I always felt that he didn't get the attention he deserved.  He was an excellent actor.

I guess my love of his acting begin in the movie The Outsiders in 1983.  He played the older brother, Darrel, with these wonderful tight t-shirts and bulging muscles.  Oh I remember this so well.  I was just graduating from high school and so fascinated with Patrick Swayze.  At that time, Michael, my first husband, wore his hair just like Patrick Swayze did.

Then I saw Dirty Dancing in 1987.  I never liked dancing that much until that movie came out.  I think this is the movie that brought him such attention making him a household name.  Patrick became a star with his performance as the misunderstood bad-boy Johnny Castle in the film.  He played along side his co-star Jennifer Grey.  I know the way that his hips moved had all teenager girls crazy.  It's what all teenage girls fantasize a man that knows how to dance and at the same time protect the woman he is with.  You have to remember his golden line, "Nobody puts baby in the corner."

In 1989, he came out in Next of Kin which I completely connected with.  He was a cop living in Chicago.  His youngest brother comes to town to make a living.  Patrick then finds himself in the middle of an Appalachian revenge from his family against the local mobsters.  He tries to stop his older brother from seeking revenge after his younger brother is killed.  You see the turmoil of a man pushed beyond what he is capable when he goes to seek revenge himself.  Who doesn't want a family that protects their own?  Let me tell you.  You do not want to upset hillbillies.  They do take revenge.

The same year, he also starred in Road House.  He was a level-headed cool hearted bouncer.  He has a PhD and goes from place to place fixing problems at bars.  He played in this movie with Sam Elliot and Kelly Lynch.  I will never forget the scene when he got up from his bed in the morning.  Hot buns!  Who will ever forget him when he is working out as well?  It gave me new respect for taekwondo.  If it can make a body look like that.  We all knew that Patrick Swayze did that as an exercise.

I was effect most by his performance, Ghost in 1990.  He played a ghost to his fiancee, Demi Moore, who was in danger.  I was affected by this movie because my first husband, Michael, had passed away in September 1989.  The symbolic of good and evil in that movie were what I needed to see.  I still cry when I see that movie.  The movie showed that true love did exist and was worth fighting for even in death.

But who can forget this scene depicting in this picture.  It was the most erotic scene I have ever scene and will go down in history as such.

There are so many moments in his movies that I could talk about.  There were several more movies along the way but I wanted to talk about what else I respected about Patrick Swayze.  With all the Hollywood relationships that don't make it, he remained married to his love, Lisa, for 33 years.  Just like all of his movies, he loved with his heart.  He didn't let his celebrity status go to his head and start running around like so many do. 

I saw the interview with Barbara Walters in 2009 when he came out with the fact that he was dying.  He appears both sincere and humble in the interview.  You could see the love between him and his wife.  My heart goes out to her.  He chose not to take the drugs that would take away his pain so that he could finish filming the series, "The Beast".  He was an avid conservationist.  He gave of his time to go to Africa and help the cause over there.

Bless you, Patrick Swayze