Leave Out All the Rest

"I dreamed I was missing,
and you were so scared..."1


"Have you seen James? I can't find him; he won't answer his cell, he won't reply to my emails, and nobody knows where he is. The last time I saw him, he was talking about going hunting, and nobody's seen him since..." You shivered with fear and worry...2


"But no one would listen,
'Cause no one else cared..."3


"I'm sure he's fine, probably just let his phone die or turned it off or something. And besides, I don't owe you or that little *bunny* a single thing. It's not my problem. Now leave me alone..."4


"After my dreaming,
I woke with this fear..."5


When I sat upright from the nightmare, I shivered down to my core, and realized that I was actually afraid...6


"What am I leaving,
when I am done here?"7


I got to thinking about my life and realized that if I bought the farm right this instant, then what would I be leaving behind? Bad memories? Bad blood? Would anyone really give a *bunny*?8


"So if you're asking me I want you to know..."9


That's why you're here, why I called you. I wanted to say this...10


"When my time comes,
forget the wrong that I've done;
help me leave behind some
reason to be missed..."11


I'm a Marine, and a Marine's life is to put himself on the line, sometimes at the ultimate cost. And I've lived a life most folks would cringe at, catered to all the vices, and been the kind of person that no one could love. Or so I thought. I just hope that when I go, you can remember me for the good, and forget what I was in the past, remember me for who I am now...12


"And don't resent me,
and when you're feeling empty,
keep me in your memory,
and leave out all the rest,
leave out all the rest..."13


Please don't hate me for leaving you, if ever I do go. I know it'll hurt, but I'd give up my life for you in a heartbeat, without a single thought. And when you can't go on, when you can't bear to be without me, just remember the good times, and forget the bad...14


"Don't be afraid;
I've taken my beatings;
that *bunny*'s behind me..."15


Many's the day I woke up regretting what I'd done the night before, feeling like I couldn't keep on with it. I've seen the bad side of life, and I bear the scars to prove it...16


"I'm strong on the surface;
not all the way through..."17


I've been plenty of places and fought in some way or another since I was a boy, and I'm still walking tall. But on the inside of this jarhead, this Devil Dog who's as hard as woodpecker lips, is a little child who's scared of what he's done, who's terrified that if you ever really knew about all of it, you'd never want to be with me again...18


"I've never been perfect,
but neither have you..."19


I'll admit that I'm flawed, and while I've heard some of your friends talk about how you used to be so wild, so flawed, yourself; to me, you're absolutely perfect, and losing you scares me more than any insurgent rifle...20


"So if you're asking me,
I want you to know..."21


I just wanted to tell you that...22


"When my time comes,
forget the wrong that I've done;
help me leave behind some
reason to be missed;
And don't resent me,
and when you're feeling empty,
keep me in your memory,
and leave out all the rest,
Leave out all the rest..."