It was 2 a.m. Sunday during my mini-vacation to Chicago this weekend and, as I was sitting in my
"What is it?" I asked.
"Cory Monteith died!" she exclaimed while staring at her computer screen. "He was only 31!"
For the rest of the day, I was in a permanent state of shock. After seeing his face week after week on one of my favorite TV shows, it's easy to feel as if you know a person. And then, suddenly, he's gone.
Although his cause of death has not yet been determined, there has been a lot of speculation considering he was not shy about his long battle with drug addiction.
In 2011, he told Parade magazine that he began using drugs at the young age of 13.
He had a trouble childhood, including petty crime. He admitted to feeling like an outsider and ditching school to smoke pot and drink. But he was trying to break the habit, even giving advice to others not to do drugs and doing a brief stint in rehab in April of this year.
A person's demons can have a huge effect on his or her life. And, instead of using healthy ways, many people turn to drugs in order to try and bury this pain.
And now, during an apparent moment of weakness, this young star, who was just beginning a promising career, lost his life.
Even if this is not the cause of death, Cory's life proves the importance of being drug free. You can't say, "Oh I'll try it once" or "Oh, just one more time." Because that one more time could kill you.
In reference to Cory's death, Jamie Tworkowski, founder of the suicide awareness organization To Write Love on Her Arms, tweeted, "May we never stop fighting for the life and hope and sobriety of the people we love."
I don't care who you are, you don't know what the future has in store for you. And doing drugs is never worth the chance you take of never seeing this future. For Cory, not only was he one of the main characters of "Glee" for the past four years, but he was just embarking on acting on the big screen as well.
Who knows what could have been in his future. An Emmy? An Oscar? Marriage? Kids?
And now, we will never know.
If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction, visit http://www.addictionsearch.com/ or http://www.northoaklandcoalition.org for Oakland County residents for more information on how to beat this.
It was 2 a.m. Sunday during my mini-vacation to Chicago this weekend and, as I was sitting in my friend's studio apartment, she sudden...
