(originally posted November 17th, 2005)

On Sunday, the wrestler Eddie Guerrero passed away at age 38. He was an active wrestler on the present WWE touring schedule, and I had just watched his performance Friday night, though it was filmed the previous Tuesday.

Eddit was a supreme performer who had to overcome some of his own serious personal issues with substance abuse and depression, but he’d made it and was seemingly in a good place. He was liked by the fans; even when they tried to make him a bad guy, the fans wanted him to be good, and he had just recently received the opportunity to be a good guy again, which I think was fitting and proper.

Still, he was 38, with a wife and 3 children, and though the autopsy report hasn’t come out yet, one wonders if, even in the supreme physical condition he was in, his body had already taken itself to that level from which there is no escape because of certain abuses.

We all need to remember that we’re given one chance to live on this big green-blue ball hovering in space as it is, and most of us want it to be longer than we really have the opportunity. We have families and friends and careers and comforts and likes and loves. We have every reason to take care of ourselves, to live as right and correct as we can, to try to take care of ourselves, and to live our lives to the fullest.

I’m going to miss Eddie; every Friday night, he gave me another reason to want to stick around another week.