December 19th
A year ago today, we lost an important character. This character represented so many things for so many people; bravery, strong female leadership, class, dignity, perseverance, and many more things.
Sharon Raydor - to thousands of people- was a reflection of a woman that we could look up to, yet an escape from reality. She was a real person living in an entirely made-up world, that we thought was a safe place. Even though, we may have underestimated the mortality of the characters of Major Crimes, and even though Sharon Raydor’s storyline came to tragic end, the purpose of her character and Sharon Raydor’s values live on.
Sharon Raydor was bits and pieces of people that we know, and I think the real reason why it was so hard to let go of her, is because she was so real. Everything about her either viewers could relate, or touched them in a way that real life events have. Real people have power struggles, people have trouble being a minority in a work field, people find it hard being ‘the bad guy’, people struggle with divorce, adoption, work related stress, discrimination of all kind and I think that’s the reason we love her. Sharon Raydor had something to everyone that could be considered desirable.
On a personal level, last year I had a lot on my plate. I was doing my first year of university, I started a new job that was very hard on my anxiety, I was constantly in-between colds, I had exams and while I was losing Sharon I also was dealing with losing a friend, and I was fearing that I would lose my mom as well. I remember last December being a really tough month. I think all of us can say that. When I first heard of Sharon’s death, I was mortified, as I’m sure a large majority of us were. The last thing I wanted, was the place that I considered an escape was now becoming a nightmare.
Like many other fans I took to tumble and social media, and up to this day I'm so grateful for every. single. person that was posting around this time a year ago. Honestly, I think we all need to really take pride in the way that strangers were able to come together online to support one another, simply in relation to one shared love for a character. In retrospect, I guess it’s nice to say that at least we felt we weren’t alone. Not only did we have each other but we were lucky enough to have Mary by our side, and many of the other cast members. And through Mary’s incredible support and reaching out to her fans we also got a podcast <3
I don’t really know where this post is going, but I felt super nostalgic this entire month tbh, leading up to the one year mark and I felt drawn to say something.
This is probably ridden with spelling errors and poor grammar, but just consider it more candid and raw lol.
Please feel free to drop something in my messages. I feel like many of us have been very disconnected from each other and the fandom since the show ended, specifically after Sharon’s last appearance and although it’s understandable, I miss it :(
I don’t know how much longer this Mary draught will last, but we gotta stand together.
Anyways, that’s all <3
-Alison