I was just about to type a comment saying that we only have a limited amount of time before NNM2 him.
I wonder how he would feel about that usage if he knew about it.
1.2 : I feel the future is in good hands.
He'd probably realize he's terribly wrong.
Thank you for posting -- very well composed and lovely.
When visiting some relatives whom I see only every decade or so, or who are statistically likely to die before I see them again, I sometimes remember the final image I have of them and think as we're walking out the door that maybe that's it. My grandmothers are both in their 90s and one of them is mentally only partly there, to the point where visiting doesn't really even make sense- our last visit she kept asking how we were related, she thought I was her son, she doesn't recognize my mother as her daughter but only as some familiar-looking person, she didn't recognize her great-grandchildren. When we said goodbye to her I figured it was probably the last time I'd see her. It seems odd reconciling that with the fact that she is in fact still alive and may be for months or years to come.
I was reminded of that by his line, "I want and hope in the time that remains to deepen my friendships, to say farewell to those I love, to write more, to travel if I have the strength, to achieve new levels of understanding and insight." When and how do you say to yourself, well, that's the last time for X?
4.1: My grandfather did a similar thing when I'd say goodbye after a visit in his last few years. He'd say something like, "I'm so glad you could come. At my age, this might be the last time I see you. I want you to know that I'm proud of you."
The best version, though, was the year he took me to an end-of-life planning seminar at which he was assisting the night before my flight home. He asked whether I'd mind driving and going along to this small church for an adult education session. I agreed, and it was awkward and sometimes funny. My grandfather focused on financial issues, funeral planning, and legal documents, but there were others who talked about more spiritual issues. One woman, in sort of a dreamy, hippy soliloquy, talked about how we as a society are uncomfortable with death, particularly dead bodies. Her thought was that because people don't die at home with family, death has become a shameful, hidden, unknown process. She thought loved ones should be able to help prepare bodies for viewings again or something. That night, my grandfather did his usual, with the added information that if he died in the night, I shouldn't miss my flight; I should just call the number listed at the top of a paper on the refrigerator. I told him that I felt it would be more personally meaningful to me to wash and prepare his body myself. That might be the only time I've ever made him laugh out loud.
5.2: Thanks for that ydnew! I laughed out loud too.
When people die, they cannot be replaced.
Especially when a particular identifiable voice goes silent. I hope he will find time to say a little more.
Also, because OMBALB, "Sacks," ogged.
I'm going to leave an app to replace me here.
7: His memoir is coming out in May.
But what, slol, is he going to do about it?
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Speaking of perspective, this bit from Chris Cillizza's generally harsh piece on Giuliani's comments contains a telling glimpse into how his crowd views politics during the Obama presidency.
Making the "Obama isn't really like you and me" argument in that setting plays into a corrosive racial narrative that Republicans have worked very hard to steer away from -- and smartly so -- during the Obama presidency.
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Seriously, WTF? How absent is this guy?