Your last night on Earth

I'm leaving tomorrow. At 6:45 am on Wednesday I start winging my way to the west coast. I'll be gone for a few weeks; the earliest that I'll probably be back is the 17th but no later than the 24th. I'll miss you guys while I'm gone, I'm not sure how many of you are going to leave while I'm away but I'll see you again. Kristi, I know you're leaving, and I wish I could've spent more time out here before you're gone. I tried, but even I run out of luck sometimes.

I just want everybody to remember that no goodbye is forever. Life, fate, luck, whatever you want to call it, it has a funny way of tying people together. We may part ways for a while, but I have a gut feeling that it won't beat our friendships. I love all you guys, you're like family to me. I don't have any siblings, but you guys are better than any siblings I could ask for, and I'm not just saying that to sound cliche, it's true. Just remember to go do what you do, never let your will be beaten, and watch your backs out there. I'll miss you all but absence won't last, I promise you that.

We've come to the crossroads. The death of an age that a lot of us hold dear. But that won't stop us, I know it won't because we've all been through a lot more than just this. Now we begin the salvaging. Trying to recover any remnant of what was lost, it's human nature. Life will never be the same, but that doesn't mean it will be worse and that doesn't mean we've left each other's lives forever. Our lives have changed, and we will move on, but that doesn't mean we have to move on from each other. There are plenty of people out there who are still friends with their buddies from high school, who married their high school sweethearts. Some of you are gone now, and some of us are here still but that isn't a good enough reason to break our ties. Why not hope for the best? Maybe we're afraid to hope, but why can't we let hope win just this once? Because I can't speak for all of you, but I'm not ready to say goodbye, and I don't know if I ever will be.

As a parting gift I offer you all this last stray thought plucked from my mind: What would you do with your last night on Earth? I know what I would do with mine, but for now I'll let that one rest with me.

I am Sousa, the Lone Drifter (who, thanks to you all I'm not as 'lone' as I used to be) and I bid you a long goodbye and a short-lived absence. Até mais tarde, until later.

"May the wind always be at
Your back and the sun
Upon your face, and the
Winds of destiny carry you
Aloft to dance with
The stars."
-Untitled by George Jung

"The Crossraods
a place where ghosts
reside to whisper into
the ears of travellers &
interest them in their fate

Hitchhiker drinks:
"I call again on the dark
hidden gods of blood"

-Why do you call us?
You know our price. It
never changes. Death of
you will give you life
& free you from a vile
fate. But it is getting late.

-If I could see you again
& talk w/ you, & walk a
short while in your company,
& drink the heady brew
of your conversations,
I thought

-to rescue a soul already
ruined. To achieve respite.
To plunder green gold
on a pirate raid & bring
to camp the glory of old.

-As the capesman faces
poisoned horns & drinks
red victory; the soldier,
too, w/ his trophy, a
pierced helmet; & the
ledge-walker shuddering
his way into inward grace

-(laughter) Well, then. Would
you mock yourself?

-No.

-Soon our voices must become
one, or one must leave."
Crossroads by Jim Morrison