Why the death of Liam Payne hit me so hard
After a long day at work, I received a text from my sister in our family group chat that read, “Apparently, Liam Payne is dead.” “Stop. No, he isn’t,” was my automatic response. Working in news, I know there have been numerous instances where websites post false information about a celebrity’s death for clicks. Later, the celebrity would come online and say, “Hold on, guys. I’m not dead.” When I went on X, however, Liam Payne was trending, and both CNN and ABC reported on it. I felt sick to my stomach. I sat up on the couch, scrolling through articles with headlines reading, “Liam Payne dead at 31 after falling from hotel balcony in Argentina.” I stayed in the same spot for the next two hours, and even now, more than 12 hours later, I can't say if the feelings I experienced were confusion, devastation, or pure shock. It’s been nine years since One Direction went on hiatus. Since then, I’ve graduated high school and college, moved out of my parents' house, gotten my own cat, and
