Along with many fellow Canadians, today we mourned the loss of someone who was more than a music legend, he was an inspiration and friend.
I didn't know Gord Downie personally and neither did many of his fans, but we all felt like we knew him like a friend. We felt his music, his presence. Gord and his band, the Tragically Hip, were part of our lives for 30 years. And we are all better for it.
At every party or even small gathering through my teens, twenties and beyond, the Hip were blasting, or playing in the background at the very least. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back, their music was the 'album to my life' it seems. I didn't always know all the words (and I still don't), but it doesn't matter. What matters are the feelings Gord's music and messages left you with. The feeling of love. The feeling of beauty. The feeling of wanting to make the world a better place.
And with the crazy times we live in, his passing today reminds us all to have hope -- to have courage, together.