Calvert DeForest died today. You might remember him from David Letterman’s show where he played the character Larry ‘Bud’ Melman. He always got a laugh from me, what with his odd delivery of pretty random stuff (my favorite kind of humor).
Death has been in my thoughts a lot as of late. Well, perhaps not a lot, but more than usual. A friend of mine recently died due to complications from surgery and I don’t think he was much older than I am. Not to mention the sudden, and entirely unexpected, death of Star. It really makes you think about what you’re doing with your life.
Death is also a great motivator, at least for me. It is the main reason I have managed to shed 75 pounds in recent months. Death is a constant thought in the back of my mind as I go about my day. I really don’t want to be another person who dies because they didn’t take care of themselves (though heart disease does run in my family. Hurrah!). I’m not afraid of dying, really, so much as not willing to miss out on everything that will happen after I’m gone. I don’t believe in an afterlife, or reincarnation, or anything along those lines. This life is the only one I get, and I damn well better enjoy it.
Heavy stuff, huh? I promise I’m not depressed! I’m a pragmatist when it comes to my own death (cremation, I think, is what’ll happen to my body since I doubt any of my organs are harvestable… but the doctors should check. If they can use it, they can have it!) but I am against it happening to other people.