And when you smiled, the whole world stopped and stared for a while

This isn't my typical kind of post. I'm hesitating even as I write this, because I can already see people rolling their eyes as they read it. Crying over a "celebrity death." It's ridiculous, right? You don't even know him. You've never met him. That person he played on TV is not him. So why do you even care.

To those people, I summarily say the following: Fuck off. To the people who feel the same was as I do, I apologize for the crude language, and I grieve with you. 

Because here's the thing. He was a young man with his whole life ahead of him. He'd admitted to having a substance abuse problem since he was a young teen, and had voluntarily gotten help for it (again this year, in April). He had a family, and a girlfriend, and friends/coworkers who loved him and supported him through his struggles. He had a fan base, a huge fan base- millions of people, including myself- who looked up to him. All these people, all of us, are now stunned in grief after finding out that their idol, their son, their lover, their friend, had died, alone, in a hotel room on Saturday night. 

I hope that everyone can eventually find some measure of comfort. 

Rest in peace, Cory. 

P.S. "Look, he obviously had his own demons. I know it's hard, but try and remember that he died alone, but through Glee, he was able to show millions of people that they weren't alone. Glee is going to be remembered for quite a while as a show that promoted acceptance and tolerance despite differences, and he was instrumental in that." -Oz Shapiro