THE END. no. 091 [the end is only the beginning...]

"Welcome To The Black Parade (Live In Mexico)" by My Chemical Romance

"We all die.
The goal isn't to live forever,
the goal is to create something that will..."

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
to see a marching band
He said son when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?
He said will you
Defeat them
Your demons
And all the non-believers,
the plans that they have made?
Because one day
I'll leave you
A phantom
To lead you in the summer
To join The Black Parade

I've said it before, death doesn't scare me. I like to think that death is like this big celebration, this parade if you will. It's a celebration of your life, and where you are going next. What that is none of us know, and none of us will know, until the time is right. All I know is that I'm not afraid.

I'm not afraid of change, or death, or moving on. That's what this whole thing has been about. That part of my life is finally over, and I appropriately kill it off here and now.

You see, you can't be ashamed of where you have come from. The mistakes and lessons you go through in your life will help define who you will become. We are constantly changing, constantly growing, therefore we are constantly dying. Who I was a year ago when I started this isn't who I am now. The person in this story doesn't exist anymore. He's dead and gone, and I couldn't be happier.

Like I've said before:

"Death only hurts for those of us left behind to deal with the pain of missing who we've lost. I think to the dead it's a celebration of life. Of the life they've lived, to the lives they've touched, and to the new life they have yet to discover.

I think if I didn't believe in this that death would be too much to bear. Call it dark, call it demented, call it what you will, I call it faith. While I may not have faith in a man born of a virgin or any other type of organized belief I do believe that death is only the beginning to something much, much greater than anything any of us can comprehend.

I like to think that in death those that have gone before us come to welcome us to the next chapter. It may sound corny, or sappy, or what have you, but it's what I believe. Death isn't something to be feared, or hated, or looked at in a negative light. Death is all around us."

And even though this story has had it's twists and turns, it's ups and downs, and it's extremely questionable and scary moments, I don't regret a second of it. Because while I do want it to die, and I want to move on, I can't forget where I have come from. And now, as I properly kill it off, it's immortalized, forever.

I will always carry what I've learned with me. From all the people mentioned in this story, to all the places, all the events, all the symbolism, everything has happened for a reason, and it has shaped who I have become.

Do or die
You'll never make me
Because the world
Will never take my heart
Go and try
You'll never break me
We want it all
We wanna play this part
I won't explain
Or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed
I'm gonna show my scar
Give a cheer
For all the broken
Listen here
Because it's who we are
I'm just a man
I'm not a hero
Just a boy
Who had to sing this song
I'm just a man
I'm not a hero
I
Don't
Care! We'll carry on...

And like that, I'm back to where I started, but I've been moving forward the entire time. The yellow brick road is gone, I'm done running away, and I'm finally home. While this story ends, another begins, because I've said it from the start...where one story ends, another begins, because the end is only the beginning. But you guys knew that from the start...right?

THE END.?