“Don’t strew me with roses after I’m dead.
When Death claims the light of my brow,
No flowers of life will cheer me: instead
You may give me my roses now!”
-Thomas F. Healey-
The passing away of two icons of my youth reminded me how fragile life is. These are people I have never met but they were so much a part of my childhood that I feel like I personally know them. I practically grew up with Michael Jackson whose tunes and fashion statement were religiously followed and imitated by my generation. Farrah Fawcett, on the other hand, was the beautiful woman I wanted to become someday. A few months ago, a pop icon in the Philippines (our own King of Rap) died of leukemia at the age of 44.
Whereas in the past I would attend the funeral of what I considered then as elderly people, now the faces I see in caskets are eerily closer to my age, if not the same. Some of them I’ve known from childhood. Some were classmates. Some were colleagues. Some were spouses of friends.
It now makes me ponder on my own mortality. Unlike Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, I have not earned fame or fortune at my age. But then fame or fortune cannot really buy us immortality. No one is invincible to beat death as proven by our most recent loss.
I guess the best thing to do is just to live your life the way you want to while you still can. To see death from the eyes of the people you once knew gives one a different perspective on life, on what is important and what is insignificant. It is your choice whether to make a difference or lead an obscure existence. What matters is that you are alive.
There should be no room for remorse or retribution on things that you cannot change. If you believe that your past mistakes are catching up with you, you still have TODAY to rectify them. By dwelling in the past, you miss out the chance of making the most of what life brings you right NOW.
by: Bing Yap
Tags: dead icons, death and dying, Farrah Fawcett, immortality, Michael Jackson, mortality, no remorse
June 27th, 2009 at 8:58 am
You are so right about everything you say and I had a guest poster on my site Robin Easton Nakeed in Eden and I think I was so touched by her because she has chosen to live life not just exist, her article is about hate which can consume and waste life (yours). It all came together for me prior to all this sadness.
Hope you’ll visit and comment on her post.
This is a lovely site and I will be back.
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
Dorothy Stahlnecker´s last blog ..Guest Post From Robin Easton
June 27th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Hi Dorothy
Thanks for coming to our mag and look forward to you returning. We are always posting new articles everyday that make the reader think and feel and even have a laugh. I love Robin’s blog, I use to visit it all the time for inspiration. I have been busy and have gotten away from it. I met her through our mutual friend soulmerlin. Thanks for reminding me, I have been meaning to get back to her blog and catch up. I am glad you found her blog as well.
Take Care,
Dolly