What's up everybody? Michael Swame, your intrepid pittsman here, shockingly, back for another episode of Tales from the Pit, in spite of the bit of a kerfuffle I made about last episode, sort of putting the series to bed for a while. And in fact, I explain the logic behind that

and how this episode came about at the beginning of the conversation piece.

So I'm just going to go ahead and keep this intro up top, fairly minimal.

Just your standard trigger warning.

This time out, I'll be talking to

friend Necomander, longtime SmallBeans patron and community member about the recent passing of

their dad, and in fact, pick their brain about the inescapable fact that I think many people my age, around my age,

are, if they're lucky enough to still have both parents, reaching the age where they soon want,

or need to make end-of-life decisions, or are confronting the mortality of their parents,

or maybe themselves, as they in turn spawn small children,

as I recently did. So, you know, dead dads. Dead dads are in the air at this time of life.

They are for me. Oh boy. So that's the major trigger warning and mostly what we discuss.

But rather than beginning with a short story, which I think would be a bit of stolen poetic valor in this case,

we decided we should start with a reading by Neko of a piece NECO that was read at her father's funeral.

So this is called, well, I think the title will become self-evident, but I'm going to let Nekomander

take it away. And then in about two, two and a half minutes, I'll be back to pick their brain a bit about this very human

and very unifying natural process that we all shall face someday. My dad is dead.

These words play in a loop in my mind.

Sometimes the words have no meaning.

Sometimes I can barely stand for the weight of them.

My dad is dead.

His personality was so massive that people couldn't help but be pulled into his orbit.

...