"When faced with months to live, how do you say goodbye?"

December 30, 2012 1:47 PM

"When faced with months to live, how do you say goodbye?" -- "Zach Sobiech, of Lakeland, Minn., doesn’t go far without his guitar in tow. Facing months to live, Zach is turning to music - writing and performing songs as a way to say goodbye to his friends and family."

"Zach was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2009 at age 14. Osteosarcoma is a cancer of the bone, with just 400 cases diagnosed in children under age 20 per year in the U.S.

The music video Zach posted on YouTube just this past December 5 has over 1.4 million views."

posted by ericb (8 comments total)

Clouds

Well I fell down, down, down
Into this dark and lonely hole
There was no one there to care about me anymore
And I needed a way to climb and grab a hold of the edge
You were sitting there holding a rope

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

When I get back on land
Well I'll never get my chance
Be ready to live and it'll be ripped right out of my hands
Maybe someday we'll take a little ride
We'll go up, up, up and everything will be just fine

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear

It won't be long now, it won't be long now
If only I had a little bit more time
If only I had a little bit more time with you

We could go up, up, up
And take that little ride
And sit there holding hands
And everything would be just right
And maybe someday I'll see you again
We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

posted by ericb at 1:48 PM on December 30, 2012 [3 favorites]

Ugh, I can't even imagine what it's like to know, at 17, that you only have a few months to live.

Guy has a really good voice, too.
posted by threeants at 2:10 PM on December 30, 2012

You don't. My died last year from cancer at the age of 46. My parents had my really young, so I'm in my early 20s.

He just carried on with life the best he could until he expired. it's a boring answer, but it's true. You get your affairs in order and you just try to do things to feel normal. Go to work, see friends and hang out with the family.
posted by GiveUpNed at 4:29 PM on December 30, 2012 [3 favorites]

I wish the best for Zach and his family, really, and I hope his music helps him, but watching this video feels condescending to me. My wife just turned 33 and has metastasized colon cancer. The video doesn't really cover the emergency room visits and chronic pain management and last minute child care and missed work and stressed relationships and trying to hide your tears from your daughter.

Fuck 1.4 million YouTube views. They're not going to comfort my daughter when she loses her mom, or help me raise her by herself. Sorry if I sound angry.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 4:58 PM on December 30, 2012 [13 favorites]

Internet culture can sentimentalize almost anything.
posted by spitbull at 5:36 PM on December 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

He just carried on with life the best he could until he expired.

Knew a young (late 20s) psychiatrist who kept seeing therapy patients until his last week. What he liked doing and was good at.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 7:31 PM on December 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wishing the best for you too tyler. And everyone living with it at the moment. It's getting to the point where it is almost an inevitable part of everyone's life. I know of very few people untouched by cancer, and yet there is so little awareness or public image about the realities of it.
posted by salishsea at 7:31 PM on December 30, 2012

I wish the best for Zach and his family, really, and I hope his music helps him, but watching this video feels condescending to me.

I think the point is that Zach is doing what he needs to do to come to terms with it. I commend his strength. How hard it must be to grow up and try to make sense of the world when you know the end is coming sooner for you than anyone else. All the time lost in hospitals. I am sorry for what you are dealing with, tylerkaraszewski, but you also know well what Zach and his family have gone through. The song is for acceptance, not anger.
posted by tmt at 7:34 PM on December 30, 2012 [3 favorites]