Why are we here...together?

Either to Celebrate or Commemorate.

I know why I’m here. It’s to leave a record of my having been on this planet. There were so many questions I wanted to ask my departed parents and other relatives but regretfully failed to do so. My narratives should give information about my life and the conclusions I have drawn from my experiences. All for the benefit of those whose need to know may arise later. Also here, they can ask me direct questions before the inevitable fact.

If you are a relative or close friend, then being here makes sense for you. If you are a professional acquaintance, then there may be some sharing of information and methods of value. If you are a former student, then maybe you are interested in some direct threads from my teachings into your current lives. For those unrelated in any way, you might at least be interested in how an octogenarian sees the current world as if differs from the point at which he started.

I was going to call this newsletter THE LAST MILE. But such wreaks of negativity and desperation. I decided on THE HOME STRETCH because it implies something positive at the end. Could I be referring to an existence beyond this earthly one? Would such need a God? After years of Catholic pounding and Newtonian philosophy, proofs were not forthcoming. It took Leibniz to unshackle me from the Age of Reason and to appreciate speculative thinking. When I asked my wife Olga, an MD and Ph.D. Neuroscientist, how she could believe in God, she answered, “Because I am a scientist.”

At my age there is some earned wisdom that can be relevant in almost any non-technical area, I used to be afraid of getting old. Now that I’ve arrived, I am surprised at the clarity of thought and the fresh perspectives I bring to comments on life and events and history and culture. Losing this intellectual potential is the biggest drawback to dying other than no longer being able to enjoy breathing fresh air. Having read some cases about near-death experiences, all report pleasant transitions. These are suspect in that all have “returned” to life to deliver the good news of immortality. The act of dying seems to be a pleasant euphoric experience. One wants to arrive at that point with a minimum of pain, which is the logic behind the hospice movement.

Should I depart suddenly from this sphere, watch this space for a final posting from beyond. That should settle the discussion.

Meanwhile, if I have any readers, I welcome your questions or invites to address a particular topic or suggest a discussion thread. If there is no interest out there, then let this effort be the monument it was intended to be.