Chris Medina, A Real American Idol

I tend to veer towards bashing men more than anything else, and so I must write this post to express my apologies to the exceptional ones. Yeah, you heard me. I definitely just said that. Though a minority, there are select few extraordinary men and they deserve some recognition.

In the American Idol’s audition, there was a contestant, Chris Medina, who came up and sang “Break Even” by the Script. He  sang beautifully, but that wasn’t what I was most impressed by. He was a man. A proper man. His life story really made an impact on me and brought tears to my eyes. I think I owe it to him to share it to the world.

I may not get all the details correct, but the idea remains the same. He has had a girlfriend, Juliana, for eight years and was engaged 2+ years. After they got engaged, they had planned to get married after a two year engagement. Soon before the wedding plans, she was in a tragic car accident that left her in a coma. When she woke up, she wasn’t the same and she suffered from a brain injury that left her disabled. Along with her mom, he is now her caretaker.

The way he explained it was phenomenal. He was about to make vows and say ‘In sickness and in health…Till death do us part’ so why would now be any different. This is what he said, and I can’t say many people would do the same. I can’t say I would even do the same, even though I would like to think that I would.

It was just scary to see how we can plan, but G-d has things set out for us. For good and for bad, we can just live day by day and hope for the best. Everything we know of can change in a second. What was just here, can now be gone. What was never here, can suddenly appear. We must appreciate and love at the moment, because we never know what the next one will bring.

Although the woman he loved is not physically the same, she is still the one that he had always cherished. Inside, perhaps a different body, due to circumstance, the love of his life is within and proud. As scary as it is for him to see this to have occurred to a regular, typical, beautiful girl, I am sure she is more afraid. She can only watch and be loved. G-d bless the man who can stay and care for her when she needs it most.

We all make the same vows, but very few of us can actually say we kept to them. This, is keeping to them in its purest form. But what makes him more remarkable than the rest, is the fact that he never even made them yet. He is keeping to a word that he didn’t even have a chance to say.

Every day that he stands by her side, for as long as he can, he creates a real paragon for mankind to envy. I hope he gets far enough in music, even without American Idol, to serve as a genuine model and to give us a powerful message. At the snap of a finger, so much can change. And to remind us to be there for the ones we love, even if it hurts and even if it’s difficult.That, is the ultimate giving. To say we will be there for all the good times, isn’t enough and it’s easy. For better, and for worse.

Tell the people dear to you that you love them. Hug them and show them how much you care.

Our time here is limited. Use every second before it’s gone.

Sorry about the tears that this will bring…

Chris Medina, a true inspiration.