Life IS short

This is a blog I recently posted on my music myspace page at www.myspace.com/leewalczak:

So I've tried to stay away from writing blogs that contain my personal opinions on my music myspace, solely for the reason that I think I forget to have some seperation between my personal life and music. But I think this blog is necessary and I want to be able to share it with all my amazing fans and supporters.

About a year ago, my dad decided to ask people to sponsor him in a 50 mile marathon run in order to help his friend's daughter, Melissa, pay for her medical bills. Personally, I had never met Melissa but I had met my dad's friend, her mother, a few times and she was a very friendly person. This is how I soon came to learn that Melissa was swamped with medical bills because not only was she raising her three year old son Paxton but she was also suffering terribly from bone cancer and breast cancer at the mere age of 29. Well, just last week, I found out that Melissa sadly passed away, leaving behind her three year old son, mother, and family. Her funeral was held today, and despite the fact that I only know her mother, her death really made me think about how short life truly is. This woman was only 29 years old and somehow developed both breast and bone cancer years before her death and then sadly passed away only a year after my father thought it would be nice to try to help her out with her medical bills. Needless to say this thought really made me question my own mortality and the mortality of those around me and I realized how much time I've let slip by in my life. I've wasted so much time getting started with my career and have been keeping myself at a stand-still, I spend most of my time online, have been falling behind in school, etc. and for the past few months I haven't seen too much wrong with this- and, despite the crictism, I think that's sort of normal for everyone at times. I've sort of become settled with letting my nerves get the best of me and staying away from live performance; with promoting my music on the computer a little; and not really worrying about school too much because its my Junior year...and I think it's easy for people to fall into the same habits because life sometimes gets monotonous and just sort of passes day to day. But then I took a minute to sit down and think about Melissa and others as well, such as my mother's friend Mary who was suddenly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis about two years ago and has been horribly crippled by the disease, and realized that life truly is a gift and definitely does not last forever. I mean, I understand no one really wants to think about the possibility of death or some crippling disease every day, and like I said, it's easy to fall into bad habits were you get used to having the same routine and get to be a little apathetic. The more you let your days pass you by though, the more time you're letting go to waste. I'm sure Melissa did not plan to leave her son and family at 29, but she did unfortunately...and I wonder if she had know that, would she have tried to accomplish things she never thought she could? Well, I'm guessing she might have...and even though we don't have any idea when our lives will end, we do know that at any second life could be taken from us and we should make every attempt to make the most of it while we can. I want to do so much before I die, but all of this has made me realize that I really don't have forever to do it. So I'd like everyone reading this to take a look at their lives right this moment and ask themselves if they've been really living. Have you sat down on the grass while the sun shined on your face and just taken everything in? Are you reaching for your goals with every ounce of dtermination you have? Do you sit down sometimes and realize all the love you have surrounding you? Are you thankful for that? Have you just sat down recently and listened to the sound of your own breathing and really just been content with the fact there is so much beauty in the world? Are you making the most of your life and not allowing yourself to get caught up in the simple, pety things? Well, if you havent, I hope this blog inspires you to start doing so, because you might not have a second chance.

Rest in peace Melissa. You will not be forgotten.