Billy Mays Is NOT "Here"

Every commercial he made started with this line: "Billy Mays here for..." Whether it was a commercial for Oxy Clean, Orange Glow, The Awesome Auger or Mighty Putty; it was always the same line.

Recently I'd come to admire Billy Mays. I hadn't given him much thought until I saw him on "The Tonight Show" a couple of months ago. I found out that he started out working as a salesman on the boardwalk in Atlantic City (just like Ed McMahon) and has worked hard to get to where he is today. I then started watching his reality show,Pitchmen, on the Discovery channel. He became one of my favorite famous people. In my mind I told myself, "I'd like to meet him someday."

Billy Mays, along with his partner, Anthony " Sully" Sullivan, were in the business of making "immediate response" commercials for products invented by the every day Joe. His booming voice, energy, enthusiasm, and blue shirt and khaki pants uniform made his commercials memorable and effective.

Sadly, this afternoon I learned that Billy Mays is not "Here" anymore. He was found dead in
his home by his wife this morning. He was only 50 years old a littel more than a year older than me. His death shocks me more than any of the other recent celebrities because he actually had a presence in my life.

Farrah Fawcett had cancer, Ed McMahon was "getting up there" in age and had health problems over the last few years. Michael Jackson was an icon but out of the public eye for a long time prior to his sudden death.

Billy Mays came into my home on a regular basis every Wednesday or Sunday through my TV
screen with the possibility of one of his commercials coming on at any time.

While I am saddened that more than likely all of these creations of God made their way into eternity without accepting His gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ; these celebrity deaths bring to light the fact that no matter who you are there's always the possibility that at any given moment your life here on earth may come to an end.

I will miss Billy Mays and my heartaches that he left this world at such a young age and without being a born again child of God. But it just serves to awaken in me an awareness of how urgent it is to let those I know and love about the importance of accepting the gospel and becoming a Christian before it's too late.

I've got to do a better job at sharing the gospel with the people in my life.