It's never too early to say thank you.

July 22, 2017.

  The loss of Chester Bennington was another shock and sad news story to read Thursday morning. My fandom for Linkin Park was more during my preteen years, during the time I first started to struggle with balancing life, friendships, and mental health (which I didn't quite realize at the time). His death flooded my mind with two specific thoughts: the reasons why I listened to Linkin Park and how both sad and scary it is that people don't have the ability to reach out for help or have the support system to try to seek the right resources for them. I still have yet to lose a close family member or friend, so some of this worry was also triggered. I attempted to make it clear to my Facebook friends that I am always available as a listener for those who need it and to remind them that mental health is very important.

Chester Bennington's most recent Twitter profile photo.

  After having a few personal and professional struggles this week, reliving the negative junior high years was definitely not needed. Even so, I still felt the need to scroll through my Facebook feed to read how my "friends" were responding to Chester's death. One post, in summary, stated that we shouldn't wait until the person has passed to share our admiration and love or to say thank you. This reminded me of part of my life goal, to meet the well-known musicians, filmmakers, authors, and actors who have been positive influences in my life. I've been lucky enough to do this many times this year with musicians. And, I got to do it again last night.