Ultima Solstitium

If Mayan calendar prognosticators are correct, today is the last solstice for humankind.  Fortunately, more reasonable minds are already communicating that such apocalyptic predictions are usually wrong, primarily due to misinterpretation which results in misunderstanding.  To a degree, however, it is true that today is the last first day of summer for hundreds of thousands of human beings.  We live.  We die.

On Friday the 13th, May, 2005, I was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).  I have lived five years longer than would have been the prognosis prior to the discovery of Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), a truly miraculous drug that has virtually put my disease into remission.  Nonetheless, I'm still dying (and so are you).  The gift CML has given me is to justify, if you will, the pondering of something that has fascinated me for as long as I can remember: death.  We live.  We die.

Last month, Mary and I attended a workshop, Living Well with CML, and for the first time since my diagnosis I had the opportunity to share with others who have the same disease.  I discovered that those of us who have benefited from Gleevec can offer genuine hope to those who have just been diagnosed.  Beyond that, I am hoping that what I have been thinking about death and dying may be of value to a wider audience.  I hope, too, to provoke reaction and comment that will contribute to my own growth.

I understand that death is not everyone's cup of tea.  But if you've given your own death even a passing thought, I would welcome your company on this journey to our common destination.