Death Of A Celebrity

By J.D

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CW/TW: death, autopsy, etc.

Death is a painful topic, you can’t use it in a normal conversation without feeling sad or alone. It is a part of life, and everyone loses something or someone they love. 

Some people say that death is final, but it isn’t. It is the part of life where you cherish and celebrate and reminisce about the past with said person. 

In my previous article, I wrote that there are coping mechanisms for stalking someone, and the same applies to everything, even death. 

In my years of life, I’ve seen death. From my family, pets, idols, and celebrities. 

For this article, I’m going to talk about one person in particular and it isn’t a person at all! It’s a… dolphin. Her name was Winter, she was the most known dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida. 

She starred in Dolphin Tale 1 and Dolphin Tale 2. She gave a lot of people hope. Ironically enough, Hope also happened to be her friend’s name who was rescued exactly 5 years and a day after Winter.

Winter’s story starts out on December 10, 2005. She was 2 months old at the time of this. It was a relatively cold morning in the state of Florida, with the highs around 70 degrees hitting in the afternoon. 

Winter ended up passing away at 16 years old due to intestinal abnormality (her intestines got twisted). Before her death, Winter inspired many people. Including me.

I found out about Winter in 2013 in my second grade class. We had to research about animals and I came across a book with her on the cover. Fast forward to fourth grade and I was OBSESSED with her. 

Winter's death affected me because I never got to meet Winter, but even though her ashes are back home in the ocean, I will still continue to love her. Her memories will be remembered for years. 

Even though I never met Winter, I did find a few ways to get closer to her. I have dolphin fluke necklaces and stuffed dolphins named Winter (some of them are named after other animals at CMA). In the end, I got closer to Winter.   

It gave me a little bit of closure since then but nowadays, I still have days where I am sad and that I should've met her. 

I realized that even if you never met someone you had a deep regard for, you can still be close with them. 

Life is hard. I’ll tell you that, and everyone dies. It’s a part of the circle of life. You can sit and cry over it, or remember them the way they wanted to be remembered. 

There is a song called Safe by Westlife that was featured in the Dolphin Tale credits that I’ll remember as “Winter’s song” for the rest of my life. 

Rest in peace Winter (Oct. 10, 2005 - Nov. 11, 2021)