They came to say good bye
All day, people slowly approached the Public Garden bench made famous in "Good Will Hunting" to remember Robin Williams.
Most quietly stood there, lost in their thoughts.
But a steady stream of people left flowers and cards on the bench. And an apple:
One woman performed a tribute to Williams: She put on a red clown nose and just stood, silent, next to the bench for a minute.
A mother with a young son put a bouquet of white flowers and a card addressed to Mrs. Doubtfire on the bench. As they left, her son looked around and asked "What's everybody waiting for?"
There was lots of chalk around for people to write their farewells, or just their favorite lines from his movies - and from "Mork and Mindy." Some consulted their phones or pieces of paper to make sure they got the lines just right. The sidewalks around the bench quickly filled:
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Comments
Very moving...if he were
Very moving...if he were still with us, I'm sure Mr. Williams would say:
"Y'know, I don't know how to break it to you, but you got the wrong bench there, Chief".
or he might have the tact to
or he might have the tact to let it go, letting pride of his ability to remember trivial minutiae not trump others' need to grieve....
but you know, different strokes and all.... nanu nanu
Or he might have the comedic
Or he might have the comedic presence of mind to know a joke when he hears one. It IS the right bench.
Pool
Is there a pool we can enter to predict the time of the first post decrying the relative weight of coverage between this bench and the guy who got shot in Dorchester?
On the flip side
Perhaps the shooting location can use some chalk tributes. Might be a memorial going up as soon as the police tape comes down, as with other incidents.
Bench
I lived across the street from there for three years and I had no idea there was a 'Good Will Hunting bench.'
Fleeting
In about 12 hours, it'll all be gone.
Didn't these people get the OFISHL memo?
"No big loss"
Good Will Hunting is
Good Will Hunting is practically part of the fabric that is Boston, and that scene on the bench is one everyone remembers. Robin Williams touched so many lives with his gifts and I know the world is a little less funny without him in it.