My trip (Introduction)
by David Turell 
, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 16:01 (380 days ago)
Leaving today to cruise the Mediterranean. Back here about May 5th or 6th.
My trip
DAVID: Leaving today to cruise the Mediterranean. Back here about May 5th or 6th.
Today was also David's 94th birthday. He is a truly remarkable man!
Bon voyage, old friend!
I will answer the latest posts tomorrow.
While David's away
Apart from our discussions and occasional comebacks from old friends like George Jelliss, xeno, and balance_maintained, it is David's research that has kept this website going for the last few years. I don't know how long he'll be willing or able to provide this amazing service, but I'll take the opportunity now to express my gratitude to him.
David and his wife Susan will end their holiday by flying back to Texas from London, and my daughter and I will drive to meet them at Heathrow on 3 May. It will be our second meeting, the first having taken place in January 2014, when my wife died and they flew over to attend the funeral. Despite our fierce public disagreements and diametrically opposite views on many subjects, we have remained firm friends in our private correspondence, and this friendship has truly brought a wonderful new dimension to the lives of "two stubborn old men", as my daughter fondly calls us.
While David is away, I will log onto the forum every day, in case anyone wishes to make any comments. Please feel free to do so. If I find any interesting articles in the newspaper, I will post them. Otherwise, "nothing will come of nothing" - as King Lear might have said about the universe - but I hope (sorry, but I would find it very difficult to pray) that normal service will be resumed in May.
The meeting
This is simply to report that we did indeed meet on 3 May, nine years and four months after our first meeting, and it was an unforgettable occasion. David, sadly, is now confined to a wheelchair, but his physical condition has done nothing to dampen his spirit, and anyone who has followed our discussions will probably be surprised to hear that there was a great deal of laughter and a cheerful avoidance of nearly all the topics over which we disagree so fiercely on this forum!
My daughter enjoyed the meeting as much as I did, and the fact that she and David's wonderfully thoughtful and attentive wife Susan were there to watch over the two "stubborn old men" enhanced the sheer joy of this reunion – a joy that is diminished only by our awareness that in all probability it will have been our last.
The AgnosticWeb is not, of course, meant to be a vehicle for biography or autobiography, but I would like to think that our meeting and our friendship can be seen as a tiny beacon of light in a world currently enveloped in a wide variety of dark realities. You can disagree on almost every subject under the sun, but you can still join hands in your love of life and laughter, your quest to find answers to unsolved mysteries, and your adherence to the moral code that should be common to all of us, whether we are religious or not, which is to do as you would be done by.
Here endeth the agnostic’s report and sermon.
The meeting
by David Turell , Friday, May 05, 2023, 20:15 (356 days ago) @ dhw
dhw: This is simply to report that we did indeed meet on 3 May, nine years and four months after our first meeting, and it was an unforgettable occasion. David, sadly, is now confined to a wheelchair, but his physical condition has done nothing to dampen his spirit, and anyone who has followed our discussions will probably be surprised to hear that there was a great deal of laughter and a cheerful avoidance of nearly all the topics over which we disagree so fiercely on this forum!
My daughter enjoyed the meeting as much as I did, and the fact that she and David's wonderfully thoughtful and attentive wife Susan were there to watch over the two "stubborn old men" enhanced the sheer joy of this reunion – a joy that is diminished only by our awareness that in all probability it will have been our last.
The AgnosticWeb is not, of course, meant to be a vehicle for biography or autobiography, but I would like to think that our meeting and our friendship can be seen as a tiny beacon of light in a world currently enveloped in a wide variety of dark realities. You can disagree on almost every subject under the sun, but you can still join hands in your love of life and laughter, your quest to find answers to unsolved mysteries, and your adherence to the moral code that should be common to all of us, whether we are religious or not, which is to do as you would be done by.
Here endeth the agnostic’s report and sermon.
Sermon accepted. I can only add my complete agreement with dhw's thoughts. Now back to debate and disagreements.