There’s an old song that says when your time comes, there aint no good way to go about it. That there aint no use in screaming or shouting.

I lived fast.

Drinking heavily.

Driving at excess speeds while on excessive amounts of intoxicants.

Having unprotected sex with multiple partners.

Eating all that food that they say will kill you.

Sucking down the flaming tobacco into my lungs.

Spiking my veins with that sweet euphoria.

Fighting in the bars.

Fighting in the streets.

Dancing with the law.

Challenging the courts.

Choosing the military over the penitentiary.

Choosing combat over support.

Volunteering for the suicide missions.

Rushing into enemy fire.

Facing the impossible odds.

Drowning the nightmares in booze.

Chasing the solitude away with sex.

Killing memories with chemicals.

And, all that time, who would have thought I’d die like this?

Laying in my bed, watching the golden rays of the setting sun glimmer through my bedroom window, surrounded by my family, as a fading old man.