{"id":2775,"date":"2008-03-15T01:06:57","date_gmt":"2008-03-15T08:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2775"},"modified":"2008-03-15T01:08:38","modified_gmt":"2008-03-15T08:08:38","slug":"confronting-death-the-last-lecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2775\/confronting-death-the-last-lecture\/","title":{"rendered":"Confronting Death – The Last Lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very good friend of mine, Gordon Smith<\/a> sent me an email a few days ago. Later that day, when I spoke to him he told me about when the doctor told him that \"life_after_death\"he had good news and bad news. The doctor told Gordon that he had incurable cancer. Gordon responded, “What is the bad news?”. Here is a copy of that email:<\/p>\n

Hello,
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

I just wanted to let you know that I was diagnosed with Leukemia, and had it confirmed last week. The kind of news you just LOVE to get. <\/font><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not going to kill me next week or anything that dramatic, but obviously is of concern. (I literally just got off the phone with a local publisher who was asking me about writing a column. I suggested \u201cThe lighter side of Leukemia.\u201d He laughed, but did not make a commitment to it.) <\/font><\/p>\n

I want to thank ALL my family and friends because I\u2019ve been so fortunate in knowing and loving you. May I confess?….. I am EXTREMELY fond of you. <\/font><\/p>\n

I am fortunate that I have so many people that I love and that love me. I\u2019m really not terribly upset by this diagnosis or what it potentially portends, because I HAVE had such great people in my life. Maybe I\u2019m whistling past the graveyard, as they say, but so far I\u2019m doing fine.
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t expect condolences, etc. It\u2019s always hard to find words for that sort of thing anyway, and you have always made me feel pretty appreciated. I know how much you care! \u2018Nuff said on that count. (However, I do NOT mean to discourage anyone inclined to send a handsome cash stipend.)
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

At any rate, thanks for all you have been in my life. (The terms love and laughter come to mind. God, it sounds like a farewell, and it\u2019s not.) Just wanted to let you know what is going on with me.
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

I plan on being around for awhile\u2026a very long while. <\/font><\/p>\n

Gordon<\/font><\/p>\n

___<\/font><\/p>\n

It reminded me of a truly remarkable video I have seen several versions of: Dr. Randy Pausch’s last lecture<\/a>. It is one of the most Read more<\/a><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A very good friend of mine, Gordon Smith sent me an email a few days ago. Later that day, when I spoke to him he told me about when the doctor told him that he had good news and bad news. The doctor told Gordon that he had incurable cancer. Gordon responded, “What is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-casual-friday","7":"category-group-therapy","8":"category-retirement","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/17\/can-we-get-some-fake-bums-too\/","url_meta":{"origin":2775,"position":0},"title":"Can we get some fake bums, too?","author":"Odysseus","date":"December 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Today comes the news that the City of Phoenix, in its desperate need to pretend to be a city of the East instead of a city of the West, is paying street performers, who are normally mendicants, to infest downtown:A stretch of Adams Street in the center city is now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":775,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/775\/see-the-pursuit-of-happyness-because-there-are-worse-fates-than-straight-commission-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":2775,"position":1},"title":"See “The Pursuit of Happyness” — because there are worse fates than straight commission sales . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We see everything through the lens of real estate, including films and television programs. It's baked in the cake. Houses, always, and rooms and neighborhoods, and god help us if there's a real estate transaction in a movie or TV show. When we were leaving The Pursuit of Happyness last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13426,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13426\/two-more-pix-from-my-planet\/","url_meta":{"origin":2775,"position":2},"title":"Two more pix from my planet…","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"That's my PhoenixBargains Twitter account as of last night. That account is nothing but auto-Tweeted real estate spam, six weblogs (five automated, one normal) running Twitter Tools plus FreePhoenixMLSSearch.com promoting its activity via Posterous (for now; I have plans to make this more robust and more interesting). The first time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":429,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/429\/blogoff-post-52-weblog-review-360-digest\/","url_meta":{"origin":2775,"position":3},"title":"Blogoff Post #52: Weblog Review: 360 Digest . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Marlow Harris' 360 Digest weblog is a must-read feed. I say she's serious, but she insists that her love of all things Elvis belies that. I say she's serious anyway. As with most good weblogs run by working Realtors, her site covers a lot of ground, but she seems to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4782,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4782\/2009-started-yesterday\/","url_meta":{"origin":2775,"position":4},"title":"2009 started yesterday…","author":"Eric Blackwell","date":"October 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the coolest parts about my job is that I get to hang out with some of the best REALTORS that Louisville has. That's not hyperbole. I am not blowing sunshine up anyone's hindquarters. It is simply the truth. Often, when I am lost in my own thoughts or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3366,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3366\/greed-is-good-but-greedy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2775,"position":5},"title":"Greed is Good, but Greedy?","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"July 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In a comment on a recent post, I shared with David Shafer\u00a0the \"revulsion that an ignorant, greedy originator causes.\"\u00a0 The Great and Powerful Oz - one of the sharpest minds in lending... actually just one of the sharpest minds\u00a0period -\u00a0called me on it and asked if I might\u00a0define \"greedy originator\".\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}