I know exactly how I would do it.  I’d hold up my hand, flatten my palm and with a quick thrust, smack Cory Monteith right in the forehead.

What the hell were you thinking, Cory?

Did one of your old partying friends in your home of Vancouver, B.C.., say something like, “How about a little heroin for old times’ sake?”

You idiot.

You ended a life that millions envied.  You achieved success many dream of, but never realize.  A young beautiful, talented singer was madly in love with you, enough to push you into rehab to try and help you turn things around, even just a few months ago….and you threw that all away.  She now grieves with your family.

You idiot.

This is where some people will step in and defend you with such classics as, “But he had an addictive personality” or “But he’s been battling drugs since he was 13.”  If you’re going to eventually just throw it all alway, why bother?  You beat the odds when you drove down to Hollywood, auditioned for “Glee” and were chosen to join the cast.  The on-screen chemistry between you and Lea Michele spilled over into real life.  The show has now been on the air long enough, you could have just sat back, packed on the pounds and watched the residuals roll in.

You moron.

Life is all about choices. From which notch to set the toaster, to “Should I get a tall or grande this time?” to the rare, “Gee, I wonder what’ll happen when I mix alcohol and heroin?”  Don’t give me the “I’ve had a tough life” thing.  I don’t know everything about your life, but I know lots of people who have lived through hell and not gone that route.

Your passing made me mad. You had talent, luck, success and more, and all of that wasn’t enough. You literally had millions of people liking you and, when they heard about your addiction challenges, were pulling for you.  Amazingly, none of those people would have done anything to encourage you to go back to drugs and escaping your success.  Why did you end up hanging out with three people that would watch you self-destruct for the final time and not try to stop it.  You didn’t lose everything—you threw it away and hurt a lot of people in the process.

With our fickle society, you will quickly become a footnote and the millions of “Glee” fans that were aware of your talents today will someday recall you as “that guy who died of the overdose” back in the day.

So, why did you bother getting our attention first, only to just check out early?

If you were here, standing before me, you’d feel a big thunk about now, right there in the forehead.

I wish I could have been there to thunk you.

Tim Hunter