We lost some big names in entertainment this year, I just wanted the chance to say one last goodbye to some of my favorites.

• Actor Patrick Swayze, 57 – I really enjoyed Dirty Dancing and many more of his movies.
• Director John Hughes, 59 – His films were some of the first that I rented from video stores and watched over and over again.
• Actress Farrah Fawcett, 62 – What a courageous documentary she made at the end of her life.
• Actor Dom DeLuise, 75 – Always made me laugh.
• Actor Ricardo Montalban, 88 – I still want to visit Fantasy Island.
• George Michael, sports broadcaster, 70 – I watched his ‘Sports Machine’ show for years in DC.
• Vic Chesnutt, singer/songwriter, 45 – Just an amazing talent.
• Actress Brittany Murphy, 32 – I loved her voice work for King of the Hill.
• Ed McMahon, 86 – I’ll remember him from Star Search, way before American Idol.
• Pitchman Billy Mays, 50 – He could sell me the shoes on my feet, what a guy.
• Walter Cronkite, 92 – Sad to see him go, but that’s the way it is.

There were many more notable deaths, as The New York Times notes in their annual review.

A couple of years ago, I got a frantic call from my husband. He’d been hit by a car on his way to work. I remember feeling so helpless — I was all the way across town, and I wanted to teleport myself to his side. I had so many questions and horrible pictures in my head. (Luckily he escaped with only some injuries to his arm and is now fully recuperated.)

In September 2001 I was helping run a government conference in College Park, Maryland. We heard a plane had crashed in Manhattan. We wondered if we should let our attendees know. Then the second plane crashed in Manhattan and one crashed into the Pentagon. Almost everyone at our conference knew someone who worked at the Pentagon or nearby and the conference screeched to a halt. Everyone had someone they wanted to contact, to check on or to let someone know they were okay. The Twin Towers were tragic, but the Pentagon was HERE. And we KNEW those people.

Last Monday, June 22, 2009, will unfortunately be as memorable a date for a number of families in the Washington area as September 11 is for many Americans. The Metro crash on the red line brought sudden, senseless tragedy on at least 8 families (of the 9 who died, two were a married couple) and it’s hard to forget a day like that.

But even more families probably got phone calls like I did, letting them know that their loved one was on one of the trains that was involved in the collision. Some of them had to track down their spouse or son or daughter at one of the area hospitals.

That is a frantic search, and a painful period of not knowing what state your loved one is in. And any survivors with serious injuries may be dealing with corrective surgery for months to come. And health care bills and insurance nightmares. This Metro crash is going to change their life for the foreseable future.

All my love goes out to all of you who were involved in that horrible Metro crash. I haven’t forgotten you. Even though we also lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson this week, I still care most about the Washingtonians that are suffering.