Wednesday; August 2
Have you ever heard of Richard Valenzuela? Maybe you know him by his stage name, Richie Valens. Valenzuela was a Mexican-American musician maybe best known for being one of the people killed in the plane crash that took the life of Buddy Holly and J. P. Richardson (also known as the Big Bopper) on February 2, 1959. Valenzuela was also the subject of the movie, “La Bamba”. There is a lot to the story of Richie Valens, but to me the thing that stands out is not the lost potential of a “star” that passed away at 17-years-old, it is how much he was able to pack into less than twenty years. Valenzuela overcame a lot to produce three songs that are still being played over sixty years later. “La Bamba”, “Come On, Let’s Go” and “Donna” cemented this teenager in Rock And Roll history. As we look back at sad tales like this one we can do one of two things. We can lament what they didn’t get to do or we can celebrate what they did with the little time they had. When we choose the latter,