A lot of things have happened over this last year. All of which I was thinking about on New Years Eve. And have been thinking about ever since. And then there are other things, further in the past that I've started thinking about. And it makes me realize how much goes unnoticed of uncared about until it's too late.
On December 16th a friend of the family, who was as close as a brother to me, died of liver failure. He was almost 22-years-old, and his name was Michael Maddox.
In the last 5 years, I've seen the ends of 6 lives. His was, by far, the hardest. But his funeral was the most beautiful thing you could have seen. He was in with the 'unks' of Portland. The PDX Punks. And they were there, at his funeral. A bunch of dirty, pierced, tattooed, raggedy, young AND old punks. And it was the best funeral I've ever been to. Everyone was making jokes with each other and messing around. Mike was sent of with poems, letters, cigarettes, crystals, a skateboard, tampons, and Midol. Everything he could have wanted. Every person there showed up cold sober upon request of Mike's parents. And everyone, no matter who hated who, got a long for one day. Everyone laughed together, cried together, and sang together. That's right. Picture a group of punks, outside a funeral home in the snow, singing Punk Rock songs about sex, drugs, booze, and punk rock. Everyone did their crying, and that was it. Exactly what Mike would have wanted.
He was the type of person to live every day to it's fullest. And he thought everyone should.

Since Mike died, I've been thinking about that. "Living every day to it's fullest." What does it really mean to do that?
I guess this is really more of rambling then a 'Journal' but whatever. It's a new year. It's time for new goals, new dreams, new experiences, and new life changes.
What's mine?
I'm going to attempt, to the fullest of my understanding, to live every day like it's my last.
What's your life change for 2009?