Mar 22 2009
Jade Goody - R.I.P.
Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody
June 5, 1981 - March 22, 2009
“I’ve achieved more in 27 years than some achieve in their lifetime. I could bitch about dying young, but at the end of the day, I can look back on my life and be proud of what I have done.” - OK Magazine (US), Issue #12, March 23, 2009
I only knew about Jade Goody on my last trip to London six months ago. The first thing I knew about her, was that she was on Britain’s “Big Brother” and made some racial comments towards Shilpa Shetty, a famous Bollywood actress. I also found out that Jade had cervical cancer, and was on television documenting it. At that time, no one knew - not even Jade herself - that she had only months to live.
Now, I know this looks weird: Jade’s not a celebrity in the traditional sense, but who is nowadays, and what exactly the hell is ”traditional?” True, she didn’t really have talent (that we knew of) and she was much more famous - and infamous - in her homeland of Great Britain than, let’s say, the United States. I’m not writing about this woman because I decided to invest time in her coverage - I really didn’t. Sometimes, I don’t think it’s a good idea to market yourself in that way. And I have no vitriol or animosity to launch towards her, because I didn’t know her to offer any sort of criticism. However, if you consider that she wanted to be able to earn money for her two young sons by being in the spotlight and help women save their own lives, then I guess it was smart. Sure, she didn’t finish her education and at times was ridiculed for that, but she seemed like a genuinely loving person - especially to her boys and her husband, a man she only married a month before.
Perhaps it is only because of personal experience that I write about Jade Goody today. Yes, I used the quote in that particular magazine from the U.S. (not the U.K., which is it based off of ), but for most people suffering with a terminal illness - no matter their age - it is a shared sentiment. Of course, she didn’t want to die (as she did in her sleep this morning - something which she talked about in the same issue, ironically) because she wouldn’t see her sons grow up, but she knew what she had accomplished in her lifetime and took pride in it. And it makes me sad to think about it that way, because it wasn’t too long ago that I heard that sentiment from someone I loved.
Rest in peace, Jade.
