If you’re reading this then I’m gone. Hence, ‘exit, stage left.’ More on that in a moment. Reading this means I’ve already uttered my last breath, my last “I love you” to my beautiful and special wife; my true friend for over 40 years. I’ve said “See you!” to grandkids, children, and friends, and said “Hello again” to my recent love affair with sleep.

I even managed to leave a special Last Will And Testament for family and friends.

That sounds quite orderly, no?

That’s the advantage of exit stage left.

Etymology:

From the direction in theatrical scripts: “Exit stage left”, marking the disappearance of a character from the stage in the normal manner.

My favorite:

An orderly and uneventful departure, timed so as not to detract or distract.

Put another, somewhat less elegant way, “Elvis has left the building.” But I’m not Elvis.

The Zoom funeral we have planned might be a distraction but utterly practical in the age of a pandemic sweeping the world, right?

As a verb:

To exit or disappear in a quiet, non-dramatic fashion

We do not always get to choose how we are going to die, or when, but with a little planning and consideration we can choose what happens when we die.

As the knight guarding the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade said:

Choose wisely.

You’re still living so that admonition applies to you and your life choices, too. Yes, our lives are made up of choices and consequences. We get a degree of control over the former, but have to live with the latter. Those are the Rules of the Road.

Choose wisely.