Tragedy In A Minor Key

I was surprised by my reaction to the news that Anna Nicole Smith died: complete shock and dismay. I know she's really only famous for being famous, she's ditzy and seemingly empty-headed and silly really. But I've always thought she was quite pretty and have felt bad for her these last five months or so considering everything swirling around her: the sudden and unexplained death of her son only three days after the birth of her daughter, the legal woes concerning who's really the father of her daughter, the question of whether the house she lives in is really hers to be in, etc. etc. (so Hollywood!! So People magazine!!). But to read the news online this afternoon that she suddenly died like her son---unexpectedly, unexplained, too young (39)---was really shocking. The saddest thing to me is thinking about that little five-month-old girl who will never know her mother and who now might be used merely as a pawn, a tool, between two men who will be insisting she belongs to him (the one may have the DNA but the other has been raising her). Compared to the tragedies around the world, I know that this is a minor one. But still one for some people---maybe mostly for a little, now motherless baby.