Read the news yesterday that Billy Powell, keyboardist for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away at age 56. He was one of the survivors of the tragic plane crash in 1977 that killed several other members of the band.
Some decisions you make in life turn out much different than you might expect. If hadn’t bought an extra ticket to a Lynyrd Skynyrd show 5 years ago our lives might have been a lot different… I might have never met Patricia, moved to Peru, visited great places like Accha, Ancon or Lago Titicaca.
Here’s a tribute to Billy Powell, the famous piano intro of Freebird:
Life in Peru 
I’m currently in Florida and they were discussing his death on the radio.
It’s widely speculated that his fatal heart attack was related to his obesity.
The morning DJs stated that he had been overweight all his life.
Orange Park, FL (where he died) is located outside of Jacksonville.
I used to love living in the South…
I’m not much for speculating on things like this, but heart disease can be really tough. My father would be considered low risk (never smoked, eats well, skinny, stays active, etc) and 3 years ago when he flew from the States to Belgium he had trouble walking to the baggage claim. Being a tough guy he then walked to the trainstation and went home. The next day he decided to see the doctor but take a really brisk walk over there just to see if he’d get tired again…
Long story short he now has 4 bypasses and is doing fine, but I don’t think he realizes how lucky he is.