Gene_Wilder_-_Gilda_Radner

2016 has been pretty brutal so far. It started when David Bowie died just days into the new year, and it hasn’t really let up since. At some point at the beginning of the summer, a meme began circulating the internet wondering if 2016 was, in fact, written by George R.R. Martin. Let’s take a quick look at just a few of the beloved entertainers we’ve lost so far this year (and it’s only September 1):

  • David Bowie
  • Alan Rickman
  • Gene Wilder
  • Patty Duke
  • Gary Shandling
  • Ron Lester
  • Chyna
  • Doris Roberts
  • Miss Cleo
  • Abe Vigoda
  • Rene Angelil
  • Christina Grimmie
  • Prince
  • Merle Haggard
  • Joey Feek
  • Maurice White
  • Glenn Frey

And then there were others who weren’t entertainers per se: Elie Wiesel, Mother Angelica, Justice Scalia, Nancy Reagan, Umberto Eco, Harper Lee, Pat Summitt, Muhammad Ali, and Kimbo Slice. And that is seriously

And that is truly just a few. Check out the full list here.

Add that to an election season in the U.S. with two highly-divisive candidates, Brexit, Olympic scandals, health crises, and everything else going on, and it feels like you need a nap just thinking about it.

The loss of Gene Wilder earlier this week was apparently the last straw for some people.

Enter social media. Leave it to Twitter to get a snarky hashtag going about ways we could possibly make 2016 worse.

We had such high hopes and aspirations on January 1…

Image Source: By Studio (RR Auction) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons