This has been a rough few weeks for the world and the loss of some very talented people. Yesterday, we lost Glenn Frey of the Eagles.

Another piece of my youth long gone. I remember babysitting for some neighbors and listening to the Eagles on repeat for hours. The albums that went with that were from Chicago and America. There were others, too, but those three were my favorite bands for years. Still are.

What makes me happy though, is to see that their music endures and that people half my age (and less) are also commenting on the passing of these artists. Why it matters to me, I can not say, but I guess it is at least comforting to know that as each artist passes, they may be gone, but their music and artistic legacy lives on.

This, really, is all any of us can hope for: to leave behind something worth remembering and, if at all possible, worth remembering in a positive light. With each artist gone, we are reminded to live our own lives to the fullest and work towards leaving something worthy behind. We’ll all die, eventually, but what we leave is up to us now while we’re still alive.

I am grateful to have lived much of my life pre-internet when listening to music was not so easily interrupted. When we played entire albums at a time. When music was put together as a complete work of art, not just as singles. Yes, I’ll say it, it gives me a peaceful, easy feeling… I know. I’m a dork and that was silly, but it is true.

Thank you to all of the artists, gone and still with us, who have shaped who I am today. I hope I will also contribute, somehow, to the body of beautiful art in this world. Rock on!