14 DAY TRIAL // By now you might have already found out that comedic actress and stand-up comedy trailblazer Joan Rivers passed away yesterday at the age of 81, following complications to a throat surgery procedure. She had been in a coma since Thursday, after suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest, and doctors were unable to bring her back.
As the world has expressed its condolences today and mourns the loss of one of the most honest and funny comedians in show business, everyone's thoughts and prayers go to Joan's daughter, Melissa, who was by her mother's side through her ordeal, right until the last moment.
But don't feel too bad though, because Joan had made her peace with her daughter a long time ago, as can be seen in a touching and heartbreaking video from 2012, taken from their reality show Joan % Melissa.
Ironically, at the time, she again found herself questioning her outcome as she sat in the waiting room of a private clinic, waiting to undergo a cosmetic procedure. Given her age, there were always health risks, so Joan sat her daughter down and explained a few things to her.
“If anything happnes, Mellisa, I've had a great life,” she begins. “If I died this morning, nobody would say ‘so young.’ I've had an amazing life, if it ended right now – amazing life!” she added, snapping her fingers.
With tears rolling down her face, Joan looked her daughter in the eyes and praised her good spirit, “You’ve been just great and you’ve come through so much, and how lucky we are. I love you so much.”
Then, in typical show business fashion, Joan concluded that “Life is so much fun. It's one big movie! Every minute this has been my life.”
Even back in 2012 we find out that Joan had made her peace and that she regretted nothing in her life. This brings some comfort to the millions who now grieve her loss. It also brings a smile to our faces to know that Joan chose to go out with a bang: she was performing a stand-up routine on the stage of a small New York theaters just 12 hours before she went into a coma.
She had the strength to joke about her condition, calling herself a “plastic surgery poster girl,” and making everyone laugh with her uncomfortable comparisons. She leaves behind a huge legacy, spanning over six decades, which has blazed a trail for other female comedians in the business and changed our perception on female humor forever.
