The End Times

There's a guy named Bob Lassiter who used to do radio in the Tampa area. I got here toward the end of his reign. By the time I listened to him, I think he had soured of the business and the direction in which he saw it headed. In December 1999, he figured he was done. He was less than two weeks from the end of his contract and no one had spoken to him about extending it. His last day on the air seemed like a huge meltdown at the time. In retrospect, it wasn't that harsh.

Bob Lassiter is dying. His kidneys are failing. And his blog is a daily play-by-play of his life as he sinks into the hole that will eventually cause his death. I don't know how or when I'm going to die. As a result, I get to think about things like our next vacation and how the Cub Scout meetings are going to fall from August until May of next year. But for the first time in my life, I can see the end line someplace on the horizon. My lifetime isn't the eternity it once was.

In sharing his thoughts and feelings as his life ebbs away, Bob Lassiter is providing a wonderful gift of show how precious life really is, and how hard death can really be. And he's showing that even when it's hard, it can be met with dignity.