Seven years ago today....

It's weird; May 23rd should be a happy ocassion for me, as one of my best friends was married on this day in 1999. Unfortunately, I'll always remember it (also) as the death of Owen Hart.

I'm sure I've mentioned it here before (probably last May 23rd as well), but Hart was one of the nicest wrestlers I ever had the opportunity to meet. Very upbeat, not to mention how hard he worked in the ring. And his slightly off-kilter sense of humor was perfect. I always remember the one line on Raw, right after he did the "retirement angle" after "injuring" Dan Severn in a match. Meanwhile, Stone Cold was looking for someone (McMahon?) on that episode. He was going into everyone's locker rooms, and burst into Owen's. Owen comes back with "Don't look at me -- I'm retired." Just an unforgettable line.

Oddly enough, I was going through some boxes last night and came across some pictures that I'd taken at a WWF press event in the summer of '98. A few of them were of Owen (that was the first time I'd met him at one of these things). He was upbeat, and one of them is where he's posing with the former Mayor of Toronto, "Nutty" Mel Lastman, as well as the president of WWF Canada, Carl "Those Seats Are RESERVED!" DeMarco. I also have a picture of me posing with Jason Sensation ("that thing was funny for about five minutes.") and me interviewing The Undertaker. I have to scan those pics in one of these days so I can post them online.....

Anyways, just wanted to say I still miss Owen. One of my all-time faves, and he left us way too soon.