Only The Good Die Young

There are days when I just feel like my life absolutely sucks. I regret decisions that I have made and am making, and I just want to give up and cry in some dark, far away corner.


 But then something snaps me back to reality. This reality normally involves the explanation of trials and tribulations that someone I know trusts me enough to let me in on. Due to this trust, I am not going to blab on here about any details...nothing. My friendships mean more to me than spilling out my friends' devastation on a blog. What they told me in an e-mail was just absolutely heartbreaking. I just got done reading it and I want to cry. I could never imagine going through something like that.


Everybody dies. That is the harsh reality in life. When it involves someone young and completely unexpected it just throws your whole view of EVERYTHING off kilter. There were two guys my age who I went to school with who passed away not too long after graduation. One of the guys was unfortunately murdered, and the other school mate died in his sleep. When I heard about both of their deaths it was devastating, and I rarely spoke to them! 


 Starting college was extremely overwhelming for me. I have always been the shy girl who only speaks to new people after they have initiated the conversation. I was lucky enough to know two girls when I started. We had all three worked together as cashiers at Home Depot that summer. Luckily, even with my shyness, we were able to meet a few new friends and after that our group grew to be like 25 of us!!!  


One of my new friends was named Jerri. She was the life of the party. She was so outgoing and completely opposite of myself. I loved who she was almost instantly! Her personality was INFECTIOUS! Jerri left college and moved back home with her parents after about two years. We lost touch, but I thought about her a lot still. She was my Jerri, and I missed her terribly! Almost two years ago I was in my car during my first break at work when I received a text message from our mutual friend Sam. It said that Jerri had gotten into a one car roll over accident early that morning and did not make it. I was absolutely crushed! Nothing and nobody can ever prepare you for a shock like that. It was horrible, and every time I think of her I still break down and cry. 


Then there was Justin. He was unlike anybody I have ever met before. He was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man I have ever known. We went to Junior High together and became fast friends. He was my Britney Spears buddy!!! We both were HUUUGE fans!!! It was super cool to share that with him!!! When I moved down to college I lost touch with a lot of friends including Justin. I will never forget the day my boyfriend and I decided to go to the Mall of America. We were hungry so we went to the food court and I received a text message that said "I see you!" It freaked me out at first because I did not recognize the number! Low and behold I turned around and Justin was there!!! We embraced in a big hug, spoke for a few minutes and went our separate directions. Unfortunately, I was only able to see him two more times before he passed away around a month ago. At first everybody thought that he had died from a heart attack but a day or so later it was concluded that he died of a torn Aorta.  Again, instant devastation! Why did this happen to him? Why did this happen to her? 


I have been to well over 30 funerals in my lifetime. Death is something that I have grown up with. At least once or twice a year I am attending a funeral. I always thought that the more funerals I would go to the easier they will get. That, my friends, is false. It never gets easier because you are not grieving the death but you are grieving the person. Each personality is different and that is why losing a loved one is always going to be hard. So what snapped me back to reality this time? Life is too short; embrace it and embrace the people you love and cherish because you never know when your last day will be with them. It's a sad yet very true reality. Only the good die young....... 


Thank you for reading, 


                                                       -XOXO K.C.