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You are reading words from the mind of a dead guy. I’m not dead yet, of course, as I write these words. I may live many more years.

But soon enough, certainly within a few decades, I will be gone and these words may remain. You might be reading them within that period, in which case you are reading the words of a not-yet-dead guy. But a person lives only so many years, and then he’s dead a lot longer. I was dead for billions of years before I was born. And I’ll be dead for a long, long time afterwards. Forever, I suppose.

So, unless you are reading these words during that small window of time that I live, you are reading the words of a dead guy.

Kind of freaky, isn’t it?

Now, all of this morbid talk is making you aware, uncomfortably aware no doubt, of your own mortality. Maybe you are looking for the copyright date on this story, trying to figure out if the author (me) is still alive or probably dead by now. Or you might be doing a few quick calculations about yourself.

How long did your grandparents live? Your other relatives? How’s your health? What killed your relatives that have died? How are you feeling right now?

We’ve got something to think about. Or at least you do. For the moment.

See you on the other side.