Beautiful essay, Brian. In a long-ago conversation with the wisest man I ever met, my dad, we spoke of life's purpose or lack thereof.

I was 17. Dad was 55.

He said he doesn't know of any purpose to life.

I responded that I didn't either, yet, so until I find one, my life's purpose would be to find purpose.

I'm now 61. Six years older than Dad was back then.

I still haven't found a definitive purpose. The closest I've come is that the people around us are the most important part of life, so we should do our best to treat them well.

I happily add to that the Earth and anyone on it who isn't trying to harm me or those I hold dear.

The rest? They need to get their sh!t together and recognize that we all have as much right to exist in peace as they do.