If you haven’t watched #LouisAndRichard yet, let me prepare you. This video is seven heartwarming minutes of hope and comfort from two men that have found themselves staring loss in the face, and worked their way through it.
Louis Tomlinson lost his mother in December of 2016. This year, he released the song “Two Of Us,” an anthem about their relationship, which I found too sad to listen to more than once.
Soon after the release of this song, on March 13th Tomlinson lost his sister. After two horrific losses, I was sure that Tomlinson would be off the map for a while to heal. After a small break, Tomlinson returned to Instagram a little over a month after the passing of his sister.
Yesterday, Tomlinson posted a sweet message about a man he met, Richard Green. He said: “Richard is a classic example of a fearless man who in light of tragedy still pushes himself to live with as much laughter and happiness as possible.” Then he mentioned a coinciding link in his bio that led you to a youtube video, #LouisAndRichard.
This video takes you through the story of Green, who lost his wife to Alzheimer's the same month that Tomlinson lost his mom. While featuring Tomlinson’s new song “Two Of Us,” you watch the two doing activities from Green’s bucket list: flying a helicopter, getting tattoos, etc. We have the pleasure of watching Green and Tomlinson bonding over these moments of pure joy.
“I know you'll be looking down, swear I'm gonna make you proud. I'll be living one life for the two of us.”
The video gives a new meaning to Tomlinson’s song, that once seemed to tell the singular story of him losing his mother. It has turned a song that I thought of as too sad, to a message of recovery and celebrating one’s life by putting a more hopeful message with the lyrics.
Tomlinson and Green have created a light at the end of the tunnel for grief. It is not perfect, but neither is life. It is all about living with what you have. They have angels looking down on them, and they are living “one life” for them.
I was inspired by the grace that Tomlinson had by releasing this video as the music video for his new song, and asking for donations for three different charities: Alzheimer’s Society, Cancer Research UK, and Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.
Go watch his video on Youtube, now.