Zachary Mark Smullen

I went home this past weekend for a funeral, a funeral for an old friend of mine from high school. His name was Zachary Mark Smullen, he was a great person and a great friend and family member to many people. Since this is a free write I am going to write about my experience this past weekend. It was an open casket. I had never seen a dead body until my friend Zach's, I had never seen so many people cry at once, and I had never yet felt lifes true fragile form. The experience got me thinking how precious life really is, and how fast it can be stripped away from any one of us at any time. Through all the eulogies and talks I had, I never felt so happy to be alive. I can see how you could think this is a wrong feeling to have at a funeral, but although I was terribly saddened, I was also happy in a way to know that I have so much to live for. My life is just getting started, as the minister would have said, "I am in my spring," and I want to live to see my summer, fall, and winter. I have so many things I want to do and want to accomplish and so many other lives to help change for the better. So now I have realized that I need to be much more careful with everything I do so I can make my dreams come true and prosper in this life. Not to die young like Zach, but to live on and make him proud and do what he would want me to do, what he would have wanted to do. In loving memory of Zach.