I was thinking about Buddy Holley today. Then tonight this photo came up.

The humility in that moment you realize how fragile we are yanked me down to earth face first in the cold hard dirt, and when I got up all I wanted to do was tell everyone in my life how much I love them. I mean really love them, and apologize for all the times I’ve taken them for granted because I forgot how fragile and special they are in my blindness. Looking at Buddy here I get all messed up on time. How relative it is. Neither short nor long — just a measurement for this physical trip — and probably nothing more than a cute name for the Universe’s ever-changing shape. 

Then to look at this photo of Buddy & Waylon and basically see myself and all my friends, still so young, hungry, ready and open to all the possibilities of life; seeing him owning it, embracing it all so perfectly in this moment… it was 53 years ago that his plane went down in the Iowa winter not long after this photo was taken.

Buddy, I don’t understand the reasons for it, though I hope you do now, why your time was cut so short. I see your presence in this world every day, and for what it’s worth, I just wanna thank you, anyhow.