Deep thought gone awry. April 4, 2008 ~ 10:25 am
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , trackbackThe monkey survived. It even survived the 1 AM blitz where Freddie ran from one end of the apartment to the other, and almost knocked over the monkey’s rocking chair in an attempt to get to the top of it so he could see what the hell that other cat in the mirror was doing in his house (think of the rocking chair as a see-saw and you will understand). After the third time he jumped on the back of the armchair, causing it to tip back and then drop with a loud thump, Freddie almost did not survive the night, but everything ended up fine.
On a totally unrelated note, I’ve found myself thinking about Martin Luther King, Jr. today, since it’s the 40th anniversary of his assassination and his picture is everywhere today. The man was only 39 when he died, but he managed to pack so much into that short period of time. I’m 30, and I haven’t done even 1/20th of what he did by the time he was my age. I truly believe that people who are going to die young have some sort of knowledge of that, not consciously, but somewhere in their makeup that makes them push harder and strive to achieve a lot in the time they have. Look at the people we have lost through assassination: JFK, RFK, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. King (and all the others I’m not listing). They achieved remarkable things in their limited time here. Freddie Mercury, dead at 46, look at everything he did.
I have no such drive, and sometimes this depresses me. Other times, I crack open a beer, look on the bright side and think “Hey, this must mean I’m going to live forever.”
Comments
Who wants to live forever?
It does seem, indeed, that some destined for greatness just know it, and spend all their energy on achieving that greatness. I much prefer to relax a little and have people realize later the greatness in me.
You know, I’m not so keen on dying young. I’ve outlived Mozart, let us hope I also outlive George Burns.
The image of you kicking back and staring down your longevity is so funny. I only think of my life years in relation to John. I always get this sense that he’s going to outlive me and become the casanova of the nursing home. If that is not to be our fate, I should probably be more proactive about learning to fix things. Codependency does not bode well for widowhood methinks.