Gangsters Dropping

James Caan and Paulie Walnuts!

Both lost this week.

And of course, I immediately thought of Tony Soprano and Uncle Junior at the nursing home.

Uncle Junior  has lost his memory while Tony is up to his neck in the life.

It dawns on Tony that his uncle will never be the same, and it hammers his heart.

“You were in charge of all of New Jersey,” Tony says.

“Oh, that must’ve been nice,” Uncle Junior answers.

And that scene hit me harder than any other in the entire series.

Nothing truly matters. All the little battles all through life. Uncle Junior doesn’t recall any of it, and Tony is destroyed by that.

But, of course, it isn’t all that dire.

An actor leaves behind a tangible life of work. James Caan in The Godfather or in Misery.

People will watch those movies for 100 years.

The same with the Sopranos.

We will have the same fate.

Our life’s work matters, and if we do it right, will live on after we go.

Perhaps we won’t be remembered by as many people as a prolific actor, but how many doesn’t matter.

Making an impact of 20, 50, 100, 1,000 or a few million doesn’t matter.

They say a man dies twice.

Once when he dies and again when the last person who’s life he touched also dies.

The trick is to be remembered for a long, long time after you physically go.

Old gangsters never die.

They’re right there on film.

The impact that we make is even more important than a movie.