Deadline

by Chris Crutcher. 

I am reviewing this book on here because it is pertinent to my life.  When I picked it up yesterday from Barnes and Noble and saw that it was a teen book I was a little perplexed.  I look forward to hearing what the other book club members thought.

Myself, I laughed real laughs often.  I reflected on the idea of knowing something so big and holding it in to remain "normal."  And for the last bit I cried like I desperately needed to.  To release.  You know the end from the beginning.  He's dying.  Strange, I'll let you in on something, the book I'm writing currently deals with that.  The knowing.  The deciding who you want to be in the end.  

Life is so short.  It's something I think about several times a week.  Everyone is dying, but so many of us think we have so much damn time.  We don't.  Maybe 30 years, maybe 90, but in the end it's what you do with that time.  The main character, Ben, decides to live.  To do things he's always wanted to do.  To live a lifetime in a year.  To fall in love, to help others, to be a hero.  If only we all could see clearly enough to do the same.  What would each of us do that we've held back on?  Would you learn to fly a plane?  Or simply be kind to everyone, knowing what you see is so rarely what you get?  

I'm reflective today.  And it's a good day.  Not the best, not the worst.  And today I'm getting out there.  I'm discussing a book that has made me sob with complete strangers.  I'm excited to see what discussion it leads to.  Perhaps at least one of us will walk away and decide that today is the day to begin living.