How Long Will They Mourn Me???

R.I.P. Natina Reed; a member of the early 2000’s girl group, Blaque.  One of my favorite artists of any genre, the late, yet unpredictable Tupac Shakur, along with the members of his group Thug Life, released a song in 1995 titled How Long Will They Mourn Me?  The song featured another late and favorite artist of mine, Nate Dogg. The song is about the loss of a friend and the impact that it has on the deceased friends and family.

R.I.P. Natina Reed

Over the weekend we lost another one of our artists, Natina Reed. Although she may not be as well-known as others that passed away, she still achieved a level of acclaim with the girl group Blaque in the early 2000’s and from acting in Bring it on.  Natina leaves behind her 10-year-old son, Tren Brown, whose father is the rapper Kurupt from the rap group Tha Dogg Pound. Sunday would have been her 33rd birthday.  The details of her death are still coming out, but it appears that she was hit by a car as she was crossing the street in a north-east suburb of Atlanta. I wonder when she woke up on Friday, did she or her friends and family have any idea that it would be her last day living?  Death usually comes at the most inopportune times, normally when we least expect it.  I wonder how many people wish they could have had the opportunity to tell Natina how much they love her one more time.  Why is we wait til someone dies to express love, admiration or put their picture on a t-shirt rather than take every opportunity that we have with that person to let them know just how much they mean to us?

How many family members and one time friends wish they could have the time back that was spent being mad at someone for something they probably can’t remember?  It amazes me how the smallest things can sometimes cause the biggest fights and rifts between life long friends and family members, to the point where they fall out and swear off talking to that person ever again.   It seems that people would rather be right than swallow their pride and bury the hatchet, but once the person they are mad at dies, they usually end up reflecting and decide that whatever caused the split wasn’t that important to begin with and wish they could have the time back so that they could.

Death is just as much a part of living as living is; that is why we should do the best we can to cherish those that we love, as well as our enemies because you never know when time will run out.  I know firsthand that this is easier said than done, because I haven’t talked to my baby brother in five years because of some shit my biological mother did.  He and I had a physical fight back in 2007, and I haven’t talked to him since, even though my biological mom tried to explain her actions and wanted to apologize because she didn’t intend for my brother and I to fight.  The last time I talked to her, I called her everything in the book but a child of God.  These past two years, I have decided to forgive both of them, and while I haven’t talked to them, I forgave them in my heart and pray for them daily.  I can’t wait for us to be as close to a family as we can again,and I hope that it doesn’t take one of them to die first before it happens.

In the words of  the rap group UGK  (R.I.P. Pimp C) in the song One Day, one day your here and the next your gone, so take every day and every chance you have to tell your loved ones that you love them while you still have time instead of wishing you had when they were still living

What say ye, is burying the hatchet and sometimes admitting when you were wrong or swallowing your pride to patch up a strained relationship easier said than done, and if so would you be willing to do it?  Talk to me, I’ll talk back.