"A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture.'  It has become a common exercise on college campuses.  Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them.  And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question:  What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?  If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?"  -- Randy Pausch
 
Randy Pausch was invited to give a Last Lecture at CarnegieMellonUniversity.  Then he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer so it really became his last lecture. He delivered his lecture on September 18, 2007.  It was videotaped and millions of people have watched it on the internet.  It was not a lecture about dying, but about how to live life.  Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008.  (For more information about the lecture and the opportunity to watch it go to www.TheLastLecture.com)
 
I have always considered it a privilege and pleasure to be asked to perform a Staff on Stage show at Clown Camp® in La Crosse, WI.  When I was invited to do one again this year I knew that it would be my last.  It wouldn't be my last Staff on Stage show because of my health, but because this was the last of the traditional Clown Camp® programs in La Crosse.  (Clown Camp® is continuing but the format and locations will be different.)  I spent a lot of time and effort on this particular performance.  I wanted it to be memorable.  I could have easily done a show that was pure entertainment, but I wanted it to also be inspirational.  I wanted to leave my audience with something to think about.
 
That got me started thinking.  I put in extra effort into that Staff on Stage show because I knew it would be my last performance in one of my favorite venues.  However, we never know what the future will hold.  We can't always plan our last performance.  In September 2003, John Ritter had completed filming some episodes for the second season of his television series titled Eight Simple Rules... For Dating My Daughter.  He was rehearsing another episode when he became ill.  He was rushed across the street to ProvidenceSt. JosephMedicalCenter in Burbank, California, where he was diagnosed with an aorta dissection.  He died later that day in the operating room.
 
There have been many other entertainers who died suddenly and unexpectedly.  They did not have a chance to plan their last performance.
 
What difference would it make if you knew your next performance would also be your last?  What would you want your audience to remember about the show?  What would you do to prepare for that last performance?  What would you change if you knew every performance potentially could be your last?
 
When Carole leaves our house to go somewhere, I try to remember to tell her that I love her.  I do that because if something unexpected happens and I don't see her again, I want that to be the last thing she heard from me.  I want to be sure that she knew that.  It is not being morbid.  I am not panicked that I might not see her again.  However, I don't want to ever regret that I left something unsaid.  What would you want people in your life to know if you don't see them again?  What would you hate to leave unsaid?