Far out! Less than a day to go! I am so rapt!

This forum has changed a lot since I last checked in. I am loving the changes!

I volunteer as a grief counselor during my spare time. I do so to provide an outlet for people to talk and confide in me, as I know too well, how painful it is to lose someone you love, at such a young age.

Sunday evening grocery shopping

I have posted my story on how I got into Zep in the first place before and I am truly sorry if I am repeating myself but I just can't help it you know? Zep's music got me through pretty much the darkest hours of my life. I was only 17 and the loss of a loved one can be pretty difficult to deal with. For all those, who are patient enough to read my post, I have just one thing to say : "Thank you for listening! It means a lot!" Here is the original post I made : I know that this may sound a tiny bit strange but Led Zep as a band has inspired me to become a better person, particularly to change how I deal with life's challenges...basically, my love for Zep began on a pretty sad note... It was the month of January in the year 2006. I was all set to begin year 12 (the 12th grade). I was really excited about the prospect of graduating and pretty much getting the chance to go to college the next year. While in middle school, I met the love of my life, his name was Jake. We started out as good friends and our familes knew each other for 6 years.. We were interested in the same subjects (finance and economics), he and I hoped that we would eventually get to go to the same university after high school...I really felt that he was my best friend, since he could sense my every mood, thought, feeling and so on! He was (apart from my little sister) the only person who knew me inside out and I felt that I could read him like a book! I thought I knew him inside out until he started to gradually fall into the wrong company...his grades started slipping...he would cut class and I wouldn't see him for days on end...and one day his mom found 2 vodkha bottles in his bag pack...I really couldn't understand what in the world was going on with him...When I confronted him about it, he denied everything!...also, he used to constantly ask me for money...I used to trust him enough and I used to give it to him, but he used to come back and ask me for more and used to give all sorts of vague answers as to what he spent it on! Then, my best friend Lynn told me that Jake was trying to join this club consisting of a bunch of really "cool, hip and happening" college guys, who used to make potential members go through all kinds of initiations, including go on drinking binges and try to drive a car, while being completely smashed! And since those jerks were above the legal age, I.Ds weren't a problem! Long story short, I lost Jake, all thanks to that club...he and 4 other guys from my high school were involved in an initiation where each guy was required to try to drive while drunk...none of them survived...This even to this day, makes me sick to my stomach...When I heard the news from my parents that morning on 12th of February 2006, I felt too numb and mentally exhausted to be sad...I somehow felt responsible for this and I do carry that guilt with me even to this day... The months that followed were pretty dark and I used to be in my room constantly wondering what if Jake had actually lived? I remember listening to the radio to basically just get away from it all....I remember tunning into this really cool Classic Rock station going by the name Vega and I have always been fond of 60s and 70s rock 'n' roll...I heard Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze" at the tender age of 6 and from then on, there was no turning back for me! I suprisingly, hadn't tried out Led Zep yet...I was really obsessed with "The Who", "Jimi Hendrix", "The Doors" and "Cream"...The song "Achilles Last Stand" started playing...it was breathtaking from the word go! The beautiful opening guitar riff...and Robert's amazing voice and the lyrics! This one line caught my attention : "With all the fun to have, to live the dreams we always had" Reminded me of all my memories with Jake and the life that we had pretty much planned ahead for ourselves...I was just so fascinated by this song...I usually remember a song for its guitar riffs and stuff..but this, I remembered for its lyrics! It in a weird way captured what I was feeling at the time...Then, a couple of hours later, I went down stairs for lunch and I casually asked my dad about the song "Achilles Last Stand"...he is really into classic rock and he was glad to see that I was occupied with something else other than Jake's death...My dad then proceeded to tell me about Led Zeppelin (about Robert, Jimmy, JPJ and Bonzo) and then he told me something which I still can't get over even today...he told me how Robert was in a wheel chair (after that terrible accident in Greece) while recording "Achilles Last Stand" and pretty much the entire album "Presence"...I was shocked! I quitely retreated to my room and began to ponder...I looked up "Achilles" on the net just to make sure that my dad was being accurate...These thoughts struck my mind (about Robert) : "Through all that physical pain of being in a wheel chair and having gone through something so horrific, this guy manages to co-write such a beautiful song...he is pretty much at his creative best and here I am, this 17 year old kid who is moaning and groaning about her loss!"....I told myself to stop being so childish and just toughen up, stay strong and be brave! I told myself that this was the only way that I was ever going to have the upper hand in the game of life! My family could see the change in me...I refused to go see my grief counsellor...I dealt with it by just confiding in the people closest to me and also, Zep's music pretty much helped too! I'm in my honours year now and next year, I hope to pursue a Master's degree in Eco and Finance. Jake will always be in my heart...I just tend to keep thinking about the good old days and I try not to think about the sad turn of events...I still haven't "moved on completely"...but I have learnt to stay strong and focussed and I guess that its these eventualities in life which pretty much makes all of us grow as human beings! "Achilles Last Stand" is a song which is pretty dear to me because it was that song and the history behind it which literally saved me from going into a very dark and disturbing place and never returning! Anyway, sorry for rambling but I just had to share my thoughts with you guys! Cheers!