Guilty

I love nature documentaries. My whole family does. We deeply enjoyed watching Steve Irwin. We also loved prophesizing his death.

For example:
Steve Irwin: And now I'm going to reach into this piranha infested pool.
My 11 year old cousin Sean: And he slips and is promptly eaten! Live bait! Ha!
Me: *high five*

Now that he has passed away (rather disastrously similar to the scenarios we so enjoyed making up) I feel very bad. We never wanted anything to happen to him. Maybe we mocked it because we didn't expect it, though I guess it was just the obvious conclusion.

I'm sorry we teased you after you brought us so much joy and wonder. I am proud of your work teaching people about the world in which we live. You engendered children with a desire to see nature as something fantastic and worth preserving. You made the world more vast, yet more familiar. It is a better world from having you here.

Thank you.