Sadly “Golden Girl” Bea Arthur has passed away at the age of 86 after a battle with cancer. According to her rep, she died peacefully in her sleep at her home this morning. Arthur was best known for her roles as Dorothy Zbornak on“The Golden Girls” and Maude Findlay on “Maude”, as well as her Tony-award winning performance in “Mame”.

Arthur was a force of a woman, who had a keen ability to make fun of herselfand serious issues with her sharp wit and even sharper tongue. She became a face for feminism when her character Maude had underwent TV’s first abortion, back in the 1970′s. She found success later in her career, with the help of Norman Lear, and wasn’t a TV star until she nearly 50 years old.

It’s odd to be this torn up by the death of someone I never actually met, but Arthur and her friends on “Golden Girls” are like my surrogate grandmas. The show will always be a treat to watch, a reminder of a time where I learned about friendship, stupidity, the Miami heat and the power of humor. I am truly saddened by the loss of such a wonderful and powerful force in comedy and Ms. Arthur, you will be deply missed.

To quote Ms. Zbornak herself on the power of “Girls”, “These are memories that I’ll wrap myself in when the world gets cold and I forget that there are people who are warm and loving“. Thank you Bea Arthur for being a friend for so many years and more than that an embodiment of a strong and FUNNY lady. So let’s pull out the cheesecake, put on a robe and laugh along with the lovely ladies from Miami.