“Live Life For Today” – a song inspired by my grandparents

I wrote the song “Live Life For Today” about my grandparents, who lived a great life but at the end of their lives, they were shells of their former selves. So I wanted to write a song to warn people to “do what you want to do before you can’t.” You can hear the song at www.meetmarkweber.com under “original songs” or on itunes under Mark Weber – Days Like These album. Anyway, my grandparents were superb people and they’ve been gone half a decade now and I miss them very much.

Here are my “G&G” (grandparents), Joe & Louise Marchese. I took these photos on Thursday, March 23rd, 2006. They lived together in their own condo in Williamsville, NY, where they lived since the mid-’80s. 1980s, that is Not 1880s Ha Ha. When they were growing up in the early 1900s, people still got around by horse and buggy! Whoa. Wild!

My grandpa worked for Bell Aerospace for much of his career, and he was a part of many historic aviation firsts, including working on the Bell X-1, the first supersonic jet that broke the sound barrier (lots of great, innovative planes were built in Buffalo before and after the World Wars.) If I could brag a little, he was the oldest surviving Bell guy left from that era, and he’s been on the Discovery Channel and spoke at the Smithsonian a few years ago–proof that life can be surprisingly cool even when you’re in your 80s or 90s. I guess you could call him a hip G-pa.

When I was a little tyke, G&G lived in Phoenix (Mesa), Arizona, so I visited there often, but they missed “the family” in Western NY, as so many people who move away often do, so they moved back to Buffalo in 1985 and were happy ever since with a constant stream of friends and family coming to visit (it was like Grand Central over there sometimes!). They had Christian caregivers who take care of them and it’s really a beautiful situation in their twilight years, as they’re surrounded by love.

They were even able to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary, so that was a milestone. After that, however, it got depressing as grandma had to go to a “home” and died soon after…And with his wife gone, grandpa died a few months later. 2006 was a tough year for me.

A lot of my music was inspired by them, and I think about them all the time. I did have a dream where my grandpa “called me up on the phone to tell me all was well” so that gave me some comfort.

If you have grandparents who are living, make sure you spend time with them and let them know you love them before they’re gone. “Live Life For Today!” –Mark Weber

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