A meditation on life, death, and meaning

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Acknowledgements

I thank the editors for their invitation to write this essay, which I have attempted to make a tribute to a young person whom I know through the eyes of her mentors and colleagues. I also thank Humberto Berlanga for bringing me up to date on the current status of the Cozumel Thrasher. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, my deceased father Dr B. Dan Holt, and my mother Mrs Henrietta Holt, for having nurtured in me a love of nature from a very early age. Bertrand Russell starts out his essay “How to Grow Old” by giving the following advice “… choose your ancestors carefully.” I am very fortunate in mine.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.