“I see Blue. He looks glooorious.” – Will Ferrell in the movie Old School

It was news that slipped through the cracks during the busy holiday season, but actor Patrick Cranshaw passed away just before the New Year. He was 86.

Cranshaw was a mostly unknown actor for nearly 50 years. Then, at the age of 84, he played the role of Joseph “Blue” Palasky in the movie Old School. Instantly, he received cult-like status. Fans would yell out lines from the movie whenever they saw him (“You’re my boy, Blue!”). Websites were created by fans in his honor. His family members say he loved the attention.

After hearing the news of his death, an odd thought popped into my head. Did Patrick Cranshaw ever get discouraged about his life? If his goal as an actor was simply to work and earn a paycheck, Cranshaw had a satisfying career. But if he sought recognition and acclaim, his career had to be a frustrating one. If “fame” was one of his dreams, I have to imagine he had long given up on it by the time Old School came around. Or maybe not. Maybe he kept plugging away, confident it would happen for him someday. And when it finally did, he was able to look in the mirror and say, “It took nearly 90 years, but I knew it would happen.”

I like to think it was the latter – that he never lost faith. We all have dreams and ambitions, but for most of us they have not yet been realized. Eventually, if enough time goes by, you begin to question whether or not your dreams will ever come true. You say to yourself that life is what it is and you have to accept it. But I don’t think that has to be the case. God doesn’t allow us to have dreams so we can be disappointed when we do not realize them. He allows us to have them so that we have something for which to strive. And, as Patrick Cranshaw proved, it is never, ever too late to realize your dreams.

Les Brown once wrote, “too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” Patrick Cranshaw didn’t do that.

If he can take on a role in the awful 2001 movie Bubble Boy for the sake of realizing his dream, surely we all can overcome our respective fears for the sake of realizing ours.

From the Xanga Archives
Originally Published on January 12, 2006