Live life to its fullest and treat every day like its your last....

[Oneslowz28]

A good friend of mine passed away early in the morning on Wednesday. He was the starting guard for the University of South Carolina Pacers basketball team. Tuesday night he played in the schools first ever appearance in the NCAA Div II Championship sweet 16. They lost the game, but Javonte Clanton was our leading scorer that night and had made the National All American team as well as several other All XXXXX teams within the conference and region. Javonte was 20 years old and hailed from Columbus Ohio. I have had the pleasure of knowing him for the past year and some of my best basketball photos are centered around him.

After the game on Tuesday night, He decided to drive home to Columbus for a few days. Some where in West Virginia he fell asleep behind the wheel and hit a tree head on. The photos that were on the local news showed what looked like the car ripped into several pieces that were several feet apart from each other. The report said that he died instantly and did no suffer.

This is weird for me because I had talked to him on Monday and was actually editing a photo of him from mid season when I found out the news. This has made me realize that death can come at any time and we should always live our lives to the fullest extent. Tell your loved ones how you fee about them and spend as much time with them as possible. There is a song (which at the moment I forget the name and artist) that says "Each day is a gift and not a given right" and that's how I am going to live each and every day from now on. Life is way too short to not live that way.

I am going to throw a few photos up of him that I took during the season. Thanks for reading and letting me get this off my chest.

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357236_3921153.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357238_1517449.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357242_4524916.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357246_2917598.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357247_1908440.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357250_5005719.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2622/251/3/1023629593/n1023629593_30357257_5946680.jpg

You can find more photos of him in this album I just uploaded to face book. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018567&id=1023629593&l=7a0d97a9b0

[DonT-FeaR]

:( poor guy... if theres anything you need to talk about or anythin you know where to find me mate... its hard to loose a loved one.. and i agree live life to the fullest.

[blueonblack]

I cannot agree more. I lost the best friend I ever had the same way, he was headed to a campout with his girlfriend and her friend and hit another car headon, everyone involved in both vehicles were killed instantly. I had known him since he was three.

That has been six years ago, and while it may not help now, it gets better. I still miss him terribly, and I still consider the world a lesser place without him, and for a time I felt very badly that it wasn't me. He was so much better than I will ever be. But now I am able to smile at our memories and value the time we had and the things that he contributed to my life and the lives around him. Remembering is what we can do best for those we lose. Remembering and honoring what and who they were. As long as some tiny part of them is still around somewhere, anywhere, they're still here.

Condolences, my friend, if I can be of any help at all please get in touch.

[Oneslowz28]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I am strong during these times. Sadly this is not the first friend I have lost.

[TheGreatSatan]

I had a best friend die on a motorcycle about a year or more ago, so I feel your pain.

[Omega]

I had a best friend die on a motorcycle about a year or more ago, so I feel your pain.

Bucko, per chance? Or somebody we don't know?

Yeah, TBCS lost one of it's best staffers to a motorcycle accident a little over a year ago. The guy's name was Lee (we knew him as Bucko) and he was a really, really big motorcycle guy. He went out for a ride for one of the motorcycle forums he was on, iirc, and ended up going off the road and getting killed.

I've not lost any friends yet (thank god for that), but there've been a few close calls. In fact, just yesterday, the other HS in my school was on lockdown because there was somebody with a gun roaming the campus. Scared the **** outta my friends that go there and scared me too. I went to go see them after I got let out of school (about 5 hours after the incident, they all went home after lockdown was let up) and they were still shook up. But that's kind of understandable, because just outside the doors they could see the police walking around with M4 carbines and pump-action shotties looking for the gunman.

It also hit kinda close today when one of my friends told me she had an off when driving one of the local mountain roads... told me she fishtailed and wound up with her car in the mud and caught in a fence. luckily her and her car are alright (save the scratches from the fence on the driver side) but it's still kind of scary to think that somebody who I know is such a good driver had an off on a road that she knows really well. Just lost control of the car somehow, ended up fishtailing and going off.

Also, my sister's car accident helped bring me down to earth as far as thinking "nothing bad ever happens to me or those I love and I am invincible". Especially now that I've started driving. One can become frighteningly aware of how dangerous of a world we live in by just stopping to think about it all.

Living your life today, though, is probably the biggest thing anybody can do. I wouldn't tell one to treat it like they know it's their last day, but I would definitely encourage people to be aware of their mortality. It's a very humbling thing to do.

Sucks about your friend, man.

[SgtM]

So sorry to hear that man. Best wishes to you and your friends family.

[TheGreatSatan]

Bucko, per chance? Or somebody we don't know?


Someone you guys didn't know. He was my friend in the military. His funeral was about the most awesome I've ever been a part of though.

[KiLLERMAN21]

His funeral was about the most awesome I've ever been a part of though.

As awesome as a funeral can be :/

[Crazy Buddhist]

This is weird for me because I had talked to him on Monday and was actually editing a photo of him from mid season when I found out the news. This has made me realize that death can come at any time and we should always live our lives to the fullest extent. Tell your loved ones how you fee about them and spend as much time with them as possible. There is a song (which at the moment I forget the name and artist) that says "Each day is a gift and not a given right" and that's how I am going to live each and every day from now on. Life is way too short to not live that way.


It's most strange losing someone suddenly, unexpectedly and young - the grief process can be odd. It sounds like the world lost a great guy and you lost a great friend. Your words resonate with the lyrics of another song by the Flaming Lips, "Do you realize". I thought the song might touch you.

Matthew


"Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -"


This is a live version recorded on the Letterman Show:

fk76rsV71S0

[Oneslowz28]

thanks for the song and all of the support guys.