Sad Life of Layne Staley

I was reading an article on the lead singer of one of my all time favorite bands, Alice in Chains: Layne Staley. It was really sad to read about how his parents’ divorce affected him. He said, “My world became a nightmare, there were just shadows around me. I got a call saying that my dad had died, but my family always knew he was around doing all kinds of drugs. Since that call I always was wondering, ‘Where is my dad?’ I felt so sad for him and I missed him. He dropped out of my life for 15 years.” He believed their divorce and his father’s drug use were partially responsible for his own drug problem. He also said that he was convinced that if he became a celebrity his dad would return. That last sentence really hit me. I can imagine a young child believing he was the reason for his father leaving and that he needed to become someone famous, someone seen as important and successful, to get his dad to love him again. When he died, this 6’1” singer weight 86 pounds and had no real relation with his father he so desperately wanted. The answer to his loneliness, ironically, he sang about in some of his songs, though clearly what he had heard was a false representation of Christianity. His answer could only found in Jesus Christ. The one about whom he sang "deny your maker." So heartbreaking.