The Last Mile

    Journeys all have a beginning, most beginnings start with a desire, a plan and a budget. It seems that in the last mile of the journey we realize that we have gone off the plan, over the budget and the desires have morphed from where they were in the beginning.  I'm in the last mile of the greatest journey, the journey of life. My journey started in Montana and appears will end in Utah, but there are so many places in between that must be written about while my memory still sees the stories. 

    My life's journey is ending due to stage 4 metastatic cancer in my bones. It isn't a quick death, but it certainly shortens life. We all become aware that death is approaching, for some it comes quick, sometimes so quick that the journey ends well before the desire does. We have all been to a loved ones funeral and examined our own mortality because of the loss of loved ones. We wonder if there is a place to move on. Maybe a place between worlds, between the real and the imagined. Many read about heaven and earth. We know earth, but we only believe in heaven. 

    One question that I have sought is the question of what is death. It is surprising to learn that there are two deaths, so to speak. There's the death of what we are, the Biological Death. The other is the death of who we are, The Social Death. The biological death is, of course, permanent, while the social death is a lingering death. It is not necessarily permanent. We all read about or know about historical people who have long since left the physical world, but we still know of them. This is considered the Social Death and for many, that death comes shortly after their biological death. 

    This blog is going to be an exercise in just that; my social death. I intend to retell stories of my life. I have had several other blogs. I wouldn't call them failures, but they didn't gain much traction. However, they are part of my journey and taught me about blogging. While many may not connect with many of the stories, some may connect completely and most will connect with less frequency. The idea is to simply leave a mark and to encourage others to do the same. Earlier in my realization that my life would be cut short, I intended to write an autobiography. I chose, rather, to tell my stories here in a blog. Many of the stories may be embellished somewhat to entertain, but also to provide morals much like a memoir. The stories will come from my highest "highs" and lowest "lows". The hope is to provide you with stories that you'll enjoy with a glass of wine and your favorite music, for I will be enjoying drink and music while I write. 

    The naming of this blog was intended to be unique so as to not be mixed in with cliche and a less unique way to find the blog again. Remember The What and Who of Death, the Biological and the Social.   
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