Poor Guy :(

Television is a funny thing. You watch shows and sometimes get really involved.

One of the shows I have watched since the very beginning back in 2005 is Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.
This is a series about crab fishermen. I have no idea how in the hell I started watching this show since ummm to be honest... why the hell would I watch fishing on tv.
But I did watch it. And I became seriously 100% hooked.

It wasn't just guys out crabbing. You actually got to know them through the show. You got to know their families. Their personalities. Their loyalties to each other. In a strange sense they became family. After watching for 5 years you feel you know them.
You see them happy, sad, angry. You begin to see them as the people they are.
The show follows a group of captains and their crews as they go out for crab.
Meet the captains....

From right to left is Keith Colburn, Phil Harris, Andy then Jonathan Hillstrand (brothers) and Sig Hansen.
They have thrown in a few new ones over the years but that is the core group.
One of the ships is called the Cornelia Marie. It's captain is Phil Harris.
This is his crew.

The two guys on the right are his sons. I have watched them grow up over the past 5 years.
Last night Phil Harris died.

I didn't know until this morning when I signed onto the net.

I am not ashamed to say I cried.

He was only 53 years old.

Now I have never met this man before. In my lifetime I would probably never meet him. But I feel like I have lost someone close to me. I actually feel as though I am grieving for him and his family.
I watched/read everything I could when he first had a stroke. I worried about him. I worried about his boys.
Then I read that he was doing better. I was so happy. This was two days ago. So finding out he died after thinking he was healing was a freaking SHOCK.

Rest in Peace Phil. Someone you have never met misses you.