As 2012 ends, we're starting to see the lists of famous people who died this year, and there are some great names on that sad roll-call. The one that saddened me the most was Neil Armstrong, the coolest astronaut of all, my childhood hero.

But somehow, with the year ending on such a heartbreaking note in Newtown, it seems different. Armstrong lived a successful, eventful life. Whitney Houston got the chance to conquer both the music and movie worlds. Dick Clark and Mike Wallace kept going and going it seemed like forever. Andy Griffith, Jenni Rivera, Robin Gibb, Davy Jones, Donna Summer. I liked and respected them all, and will miss them.

But those kids will never get those chances. Was the first astronaut on Mars among them? Or a superstar singer or journalist? They never got to show the world what they could do, how high they could fly.