I began this Sunday morning the same as I have my past few others. I made myself some breakfast, and sat in bed to watch Sunday Morning on CBS. There were a few stories this morning that left my heart a bit pained: soldiers disabled by nerve agents and their brave battle to continue their lives as normal, how basketball is crossing religious boundaries to create harmony amongst the children of Ireland, but the one closest to my heart was the announcement that tenor Luciano Pavarotti has given his final performance.

I have been in love with Pavarotti since junior high when I saw Pavarotti and friends on PBS. My parents thought I was disturbed, but nevertheless, his performances were breathtaking, both solo and as part of the Three Tenors with Carreras and Domingo. Pavarotti held a concert in Indy on my birthday when I was in high school. I wanted to go see him so terribly bad, but I couldn’t find anyone to take me. I was too scared to make the trek alone. Since then I have hoped to one day see him perform. I read he was performing in NYC over my spring break this year, so my sister and I decided we would go see him. But then we realized we couldn’t afford the trip.

With events such as this, I always think, “Oh, I have all the time in the world.” No, I don’t. Pavarotti canceled his final appearance in Tosca. Although he still has concert dates scheduled, experts say we will quickly hear less & less of Pavarotti.

Maybe this seems like a silly thing to be upset about, but it had become a sort of life mission to see an opera number 1 and number 2 for that opera to feature Pavarotti. And so the lesson continues, there’s no time for hesitation in this world.