Eat, Drink and Be Merry

As per usual after class I stayed behind to talk with the professor. There's a group of about 8 of us that normally do. He asked if any of us know Mike who tends to be one of us that sticks around to chat for a while. I knew who he was talking of even though I can't say that Mike and I are well acquainted. It turns out that this classmate of mine may have had a heart attack and he was currently in the ICU at the hospital for observations and more testing to figure out exactly what is wrong. If you knew this guy you could never imagine that something like that would happen to him; he is only something like 25 years old, he's tall and skinny and appeared to be in good health. Thinking of him reminded me of a situation a couple of years ago. I used to do camp counseling every summer and you get to know each other pretty while after a summer together for 11 hours a day. For those that don't know in York Region there is a lot of training and seminars you must attend prior to the start of the summer. One of the counselors I'd hung out with the previous summer and I'd just spent March Break working with her boyfriend; we ended up partnering up at one of the all day seminars we had to attend. A couple of weeks later I found out she had gone out partying that night, come home and had a heart attack while she was sleeping and died. The explanation was that she had been anorexic for years and that it was too much strain on her body and her heart gave out. It was difficult to believe at the time because she seemed so normal. She was a beautiful girl, she had good grades and she didn't look the way you imagine someone suffering from anorexia would. She looked normal, healthy, athletic. Often when I think of her, I think of wasted potential, someone who when standing on the outside looking in, appeared to have everything going for her. At the time this was something like the 3 or 4 death of a high school student in our district. You heard the expression "Die young and leave a beautiful corpse" being bandied around a lot. Nothing was more upsetting than that stupid expression. I think we can all agree that by the time we die the condition of our corpse won't be a very pressing issue. I'd much rather know that I'd lived a good, long, happy life and left memories that could be thought of fondly. I have no problem with death. To accept mortality is the price that we pay to be human. Life can be difficult, frustrating, painful and we know there is a death sentence at the end, but to live life to the fullest carries its own peculiar glory. A life full of laughter and love is something that should be sought after and cherished. Although, I don't really know Mike and the most we've probably said to each other is a passing hello, he'll be kept in my prayers.