Ten Quotes in Memory of Gene Wilder
Buzzzzzz, my cell phone vibrated with an incoming text. “Gene Wilder died today.” It feels like this year is picking off my childhood one-by-one. I checked my phone to do the compulsory Google fact-check. Damn it. Seriously, 2016, you need to calm the hell down.
I can’t see Gene Wilder’s face without instantly being transported to cuddling in my dad’s arms. I think I was 7 or 8. We camped on my dad’s bed in Grandma’s basement apartment. I had a terrible head cold. He was trying valiantly to distract me from my miserable face faucet. He snagged the VHS of Young Frankenstein off the side table and queued it up on his tiny TV. I was too little to get all of the jokes in that film. I did get was the sound of my dad’s belly laughing to Gene Wilder’s lines, delivered seemingly effortlessly. My dad’s arms encircled me with love and safety. That afternoon will forever be etched in my memory. For that I am ever grateful. For Gene Wilder’s masterful work in that film, I am also forever grateful.
I’ve compiled ten of his quotes in celebration of his life:
Mr. Wilder, thank you for a lifetime of laughs.
You will not be forgotten.
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