living life.

I have been thinking a whole lot these days. Sad, but thoughtful thoughts. A friend of a friend passed away a week ago and a great deal of people I know have been quite upset and hurt. I did not know him personally nor did it ever strike me to talk to him when I saw him from time to time. I believe that no one ever really thinks about a person they barely know, but when the death is so sudden and the people around you are hurt and you just feel so sad for them that you begin to ponder....what if? How is his family and loved ones coping? Maybe if he decided not to go on that trip? What if I had talked to him, even just a hi, before he left this world? Would that change my thoughts about him? How can this happen to a person so young, someone you just saw the other day? and last but not least, Did he live his life to the fullest? For some reason, every time a person passes on, whether I know them, or just saw them on the news, or read it in a newspaper, young, or old, I wonder about the person's family, their life, and the way they lived it. And I really hope they lived their life the way they wanted because it's just sad to know if they didn't. You would be a chapter of people's lives, but they will move on. Not because they want to, but because life doesn't stop for anybody. So, you have to live, not for anybody, but for yourself because tomorrow really is never guaranteed and because life will go on without you. And that really is some scary stuff.

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies, but not everyone lives" -A. Sachs