A Heartfelt Tribute: Remembering Robin Williams and the Impact of Authenticity and Laughter

So it’s been 10 years since Robin William passed away, and I wanted to share a little story about the time that I met him. So I was doing a show here in Los Angeles, and we knew some of the same people. Afterwards, we went to dinner, and Robin William showed up. And I honestly have no clue what we talked about. I have no clue the events of that evening, really. I don’t remember many details about that evening, probably because I was in a state of shock. Here I am sitting in front of a person who has literally been a huge part of my life. I remember going to see The Birdcage and being terrified because I figured my family would know that I was gay from just seeing The Birdcage. And afterwards, my mom sort of turned around and said how much she enjoyed the film and how brave it is for so many of the people in that film to be authentically themselves and how great it was that they did this film. And it made me feel a little better about myself and feel a little bit safer. And I don’t even remember if I told him that at that dinner. I don’t even remember. I don’t remember. The only thing I remember happening at that dinner is that I made a joke about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Robin Williams laughed at the joke. And he was so kind and so giving and so present. And it was the briefest of moments, but I’ll remember it literally for the rest of my life. He died shortly after that, and I’m so grateful that I had that moment because it’ll be with me forever, but I’m also just really grateful that he existed. Like, I’m grateful for all of us because think of the gift that he gave us. And I even hate talking about him in the past tense because he’s constantly there. Oh, we are so lucky to have had that. And his passing is also a bit of a reminder to tell the people you’re close to that you love them. Check in on people. Know that sometimes when someone’s struggling, it’s not always apparent. And just be present and laugh a lot. He would want us to laugh a lot.