STEVE IRWIN 1962-2006
This news shocked me to the depth of my heart and soul in the morning of September 4, 2006. It was the first news I got on the Internet. Crocodile Hunter, the incredible Ausie, Steve Irwin, is gone forever. He was only 44 and could have a long life ahead with his mission of wild life conservation. He was a real man with his own mission in life, it was his destiny, as I can see it now. Was it a freak accident or something beyond our understanding?
We can only guess now. It left us with all our thoughts and feelings of who he really was. It gave us an incredible perception of the truth of somebody's life, which we didn't want and couldn't recognize before. Whatever we thought of him, it was wrong. He wasn't an imposter or an actor. He was truly, what he was. But it was so difficult to think that way and accept that when the person was alive.
Why we are paying our tributes only to those who are gone? Is it so difficult to recognize someone's passion, dedication and love when they are among us? It is a rhetorical question for anyone who knows the history of mankind. It was always like that on Earth.
I was reduced to tears watching all his interviews and a documentary of his life. Everything that he said and what was said about him only now is understood for what it was. Yes, he didn't lie of what he was, but it's only now that we understand this. It's a pity, that he didn't get this recognition fully during his lifetime. Certainly he became famous and was recognized by media as a great showman, but is it really what he was? His prophecy about himself from his interview in 2000 was that he wanted to be remembered as a person who fought for wild animals' conservation.
And it was real destiny of his life, which he served to his last day. We'll feel emptiness now that he left because his influence on our life was bigger than we thought. It is so painful to think and feel that we couldn't see him for who he really was due to his "funny" appearance and his Australian accent, which my younger son, Nicky, loves so much and always tries to imitate it.
Steve Irwin taught us something what we couldn't perceive until he was gone. It is time to learn his lesson. The world is so fragile that we need to protect it with all our efforts, sincerity and love. We could look funny, but our real belief in what we are doing will give us incredible strength, as he showed us. We got your message Steve!! We'll remember you, "funny" Ausuie, for your passion and love which you passed to all of us, for your dedication and your self fulfilled prophecy, which was difficult to comprehend, but we got it now. Steve, you are in our hearts forever!!!
Dr. Romanov
