I grew up with each one of these celebrities, not in a literal sense, but they were just as much a part of my life as the kids I did grow up with at the Baptist Children's Home in Franklin, Tennessee.

It was just yesterday that I had Farrah's poster on my wall and was trying to moonwalk to Michael Jackson's music.

Now they are gone and with them go a piece of me.

There is nothing more difficult to deal with than death. It is our final destination on this earth and there is no going back. I have been reminded how short life is too many times in recent months to ever doubt that reality.

I lost my mother when I was very young and for the first time in my life I am ready to say out loud that her absence in my life has been a regret that I have simply not been able to accept and I remain profoundly affected by her death even though it has been about fifty years now.

Looking back, life in the orphanage built character but also left some life long scars that I still deal with to this day.

My dad Wade tried but couldn't keep my brother Terry and I after mom's passing and I am often left to wonder how differently things may have turned out if he could have raised us.

It is time to let that phase of my life go. Life is just too short to allow such issues to fester.

Yesterday is gone and we can let negative experiences eat us up from the inside out or we can get on with living.

I choose the latter.

From this point on I shall endeavor to live for today and learn to count my blessings daily.

Speaking of blessed-- I have a beautiful wife and three daughters left at home that bring me much joy and happiness. They are my inspiration. Thank you Shawna, Lillie, Katie and Emily. It is your love that gives me strength.

I have not one, but two jobs that I love and I am grateful that the two guys I work for, Wally Taylor and Danny Parker are the real deal. So is Miss Lola Hithon.

Rest in peace Ed, Michael, Farrah, David and Betty Jo Jones. There will be another time.

Life is indeed short. If this is true, then exactly how we die doesn't seem to be all that important. The only thing that can possibly be important is how we live...right now.