I am so very glad to be here, and so very sad to be here. Which in truth is how I feel about almost everything these days. Fortunately for me, it's my nature to enjoy myself most of the time. Even when the grim dusk of my own death casts shadows across all my words and deeds.
We all die. Most of us spend most of our lives assiduously ignoring that most basic fact of human existence. I keep trying to convince myself that my own enforced awareness of my ending is a gift.
On occasion I succeed.