Good-bye Gilbert Blythe

His death didn't make a huge splash in the media, not like bigger actors. But for many of us born in the 70s and 80s, the passing of Jonathan Crombie felt like the death of our first love. He will forever be Gilbert Blythe in my mind, and despite the downright horrible screenplay (in my opinion) for the final Anne of Green Gables series, I can't help but be sad that he will never be given a chance to reprise the role.

From the very first chapter of Anne of Green Gables, I was obsessed. I went on to read just about everything Lucy Maud Montgomery ever published and getting to visit Prince Edward Island in the midst of reading the Anne of Green Gables trilogy was one of the biggest highlights of my young life. I wanted to be Anne Shirley, to be at the top of my class, to marry my childhood sweetheart, to live in the beautiful gardens and houses she always seemed to inhabit, to have that one bosom friend. In Anne I recognized my own drive for perfection, that same deep seeded certainty of right and wrong that drove our loved ones crazy. But she also had an imagination and confidence I could only envy, especially since those were some of the traits Gilbert loved best about her.

As I look back now, I am glad Gilbert was my first crush and can only hope my own daughter finds, if not Gilbert, someone as safe as Gilbert to invest her heart in for the first time. Besides being a only a character in a book, Gilbert was safe. Smart, funny, loyal, and forgiving, Gilbert accepted Anne for who she was and never tried to change her. He supported her dreams and waited patiently for her even when she rejected him. He can't be blamed if he wasn't perfect (who is?), but he came pretty close.

If you consider that Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908, Gilbert is pretty remarkable in his feminist tendencies. After all, he encouraged Anne's education and both her teaching and her writing careers in a time when women were expected to stay home and take care of their homes unless they didn't have a man to provide for them. This more equal relationship is one of the many ways the series has remained relevant through the years.

Jonathan Crombie, I will miss you. You brought Gilbert off the page and into the flesh, and for that, I will forever be grateful.