Nothing Lasts Forever

January 24, 2016

If there's one lesson we can take from the first month of 2016, it's that nothing lasts forever.

That said, I'm not pulling the plug on this blog.  Just making an observation.

It has been a tough month for the world of music.  It was bad enough in December when we lost Scott Weiland, Lemmy Kilmister, and Natalie Cole.  Having to say goodbye to David Bowie and Glenn Frey was just as hard.  I mean, in some manner, these artists have had an impact on my musical life, and now they're all but memories in the sky.

I still remember the first time I heard Glenn Frey on the radio...and surprisingly enough, it wasn't an Eagles song (though the entire Eagles catalogue is fantastic and definitely worth a listen or two or six hundred). 

No, I think my first memory was hearing "The Heat Is On". 

What a great song that was too!  At the time it was rocketing up the charts, the movie "Beverly Hills Cop" was playing in theatres, and other than "Axel F", the song "The Heat Is On" was the other huge song from that soundtrack.  And, yeah, there may have been some instances where I liked that song so much that I absolutely rocked my little rocking horse across the living room floor during the four minutes or so it was on. 

That's the way Glenn Frey impacted me.

I should also note that my family collectively were huge fans of the show "Miami Vice", and unfortunately I never really got to see any episodes of the series until well into my teen years.  I always had to go to bed when it was on.  If I was lucky, I could stay up long enough to hear the iconic theme tune of the show.

But years later, I bought the "Miami Vice" soundtrack and part of the reason why was because of this song.

"You Belong To The City" was a classic pop tune and a song that I absolutely had to have in my collection.  It was a great sounding song that almost sounded a little bit melancholic.  Glenn Frey certainly knew how to convey emotion in song very well, and I think of him bringing that passion to every single song he sang, whether it be solo or with The Eagles.

It's very sad to know that someone whose music I grew up with is no longer here.  But then again, I felt the same way seven years ago when Michael Jackson passed away - another man whose music I grew up listening to.

Our time on this planet is finite.  We all have an expiration date, and the frustrating part is that none of us know when that date is going to be.

Nothing lasts forever in this world, so we should try to make the most of what we have during the time that we have left.

And, that doesn't just apply to rock musicians and human life either.  That can go for places and things as well.

In a week from now, a grocery store that I used to love shopping at is going to be closing its doors forever - and I'm not very happy by that news.  This was a store that had some of the finest produce and meat sold in any store, and the staff was always pleasant.  But, I think back to how many other stores in town have closed over the years, and I still feel sad that they are no longer around.  That being said though, the memories of these stores will always be in my heart, and these places will never really die as long as I still remember them.

Oh, and I bought this little guy at the grocery store in its final days.  Want to help me give him a name?

And, just looking a little bit deeper than a grocery store, I think about all of those refugees from Syria who are coming to other countries to try and rebuild their lives.  Many of the ones who are coming have basically lost everything - their former communities torn apart by senseless wars and destructive people who would rather win by destroying everything than helping the people in their nation.  I can't imagine what thoughts are going through their minds.  Could you imagine losing everything dear to you and having to start all over again?  Part of you just wants to curl up in a ball and mourn the people, places, and things that are gone forever. 

But there's also part of you that wants the desire to start anew and rebuild everything that was once lost, and sometimes that struggle in between can be the most important life lessons that a person can go through.

It is true that nothing lasts forever.  But since we don't know how long our "forevers" will be, we should live in the now, and hold on for dear life.  Because that's the way life is.  Unpredictable, but so worth it.