Betty White RIP with Paul Newman & All The Healers

Betty White revealed to Fox News just before passing at age 99 that the secret to her longevity & happy life was an unstoppable positive mental attitude. Over the decades, how often was that irrepressible Paul Newman-like smile visible on the Golden Girl’s face, a true Healer with the rare ability to make us feel a little better about ourselves & our world?

As it happens, I again watched “The Healer”, a story about a disillusioned misfit grieving over a lost twin brother. He lost any faith in God and had rejected the “family gift” of making sick people well. Without spoiling the ending, he comes across a young girl dying of cancer and wishes he had the “gift” back. While fictional, the movie is dedicated to actor Paul Newman, who is believed to be a “healer” of sorts thanks to his endless charitable giving, especially to help find childhood cancer. At one cogent point, the young girl tells the misfit (and his wanna-be girl friend) not to be sorry for her, but to do her one last favor before she passes from this world. To paraphrase it:

“We all at some point stop breathing. What if we lived one breath at a time. We speak as though breathing is easy because it’s so innate. Half the time we don’t even notice our breath. When did breathing become the uncool kid that all the other body parts ignored? Think about the phrase ‘catch your breath.’ You have to catch it because you lost control of it. Alec & Cecilia, find control over your breath. And please live for me like tomorrow is your last day.” Healers come to us in many ways & for small as well as big matters. But, Betty White is yet another example of how real they are.

Davd Soul