Okay, the theme of the week for The DVR Files is either birth or death. First I’ve talked about a bunch of hypothetical babies that should have been born to Justin and Kelly, Brandon and Emily, and Mary Anne and Logan. Then we learned the truly tragic news that Valerie Harper is suffering from inoperable terminal cancer. There are no other words except what a f—ing bummer.

This will make you smile.

Truth be told–my first reaction (besides “What a f—ing bummer”) when I heard the news was that it reminded me a lot of when Warren Zevon passed away almost ten years ago.

Warren, for all of you clueless heathens, was an American rock and roller like no other who sang awesome hits including “Excitable Boy,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” and my all time favorite song to sing with my dad, “Werewolves of London” which for years made me think he was British. At any rate, Zevon, like Harper, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and began a long farewell tour in 2002, which culminated with his last public appearance on longtime fan David Letterman’s show on October 30, 2002, where he was the sole guest of the hour. His final performance was “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” which I have posted below.

Zevon fought the battle against cancer for nearly another year, living to see the birth of his twin grandsons in June before passing away in September, 2003. His strength and spirit, as well as Valerie Harper’s, is a lesson to all that life is a gift.