I said something about, well, you know, a year from now, ask me a question.

Remember to ask me a question a year from now.

Do you remember my saying that, well, as it turns out, you're not going to have to wait.

Tonight, I'm going to tell you what it was, that I was planning to wait a year to tell you,

and I think you'll understand why, perhaps, in a moment.

Well, I have always told you folks the truth tonight will be no exception. This is going to be a

pretty wild story. So buckle in, and we're going on a ride here.

You may recall that before I left on my change of scenery venue,

I mentioned to you that I was going east.

I think that was the only hint I gave.

I said I was going east.

What I didn't say was how far east I was going. Actually, I was going. I went to the far east, as in the Philippines.

That's where I've been, ladies and gentlemen, for the last three weeks. I've been in the Philippines.

Now, let's go back a little bit, all right?

Back to the beginning of January, January 5th when my dear wife Ramona passed away.

I got, I think, thanks to all of you so much, I believe I got in the order of, I don't know, almost 20,000 condolence messages.

I'd say about 20,000 by the time it was over, and it's really still not over.

About 20,000.

However, I began within a few days.

I began to get a condolence message from a young Filipino gal at my private email address, not either one of my public ones, and I won't give you the address but a public rather a private email address.

And to tell you the truth, I was in such shock, you know, I really was in a state of nothing short of shock, that I responded to it as I did many others, but I didn't give it any consideration beyond that at first.

This is such a wild story.

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