Not ready to die

I went today to the memorial service of Trevor Kene Shipley. He was the oldest son of my close friend Mitch. 21 years old. What a horrible shame.

I’ve been to 3 funerals/memorial services in the last 11 years. All of the services were for kids that were 21 or 22 years old. One was from an accident, one from cancer; and one from mysteries circumstances. In the end they were all just kids that were way too young to die. I think back to all I’ve been and all I’ve done in my life and I can honestly say that, at 36, most of it has been after the age of 21. It’s just so sad.

The message I take to heart and I pass along to you is this: Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Life your life like YOU are dying and like tomorrow is in question. Show the ones that you love that you love and support them. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

I like the old Garth Brooks song “If tomorrow Never Comes”.

“If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she’s my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes cause
I’ve lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there’s no second chance to tell her how I feel”

Seize the Day. Love life. Be true to your friends and family. Treat yourself and others like tomorrow may not come. For some it does not.

In memory of my cousins Becky and Eugene who both died at 22 years old and Trevor Shipley who died last week at just 21.