Alone at last...

The cake but a bittersweet taste that clung to my tongue, even the gifted strong whisky could not burn it away.

'Another year older and deeper in debt.'

I owed my soul to the living and dead.

Charlie... Frank... Janet... and countless others I could never forget.

Today my day of remembrance.

So humbly I raised my crystal tumbler, appreciated the amber color, sniffed its smoky bouquet, and offered a salute to those who had gone on ahead.

Here I must remain, ties of the living too strong to resist.

Sam... Daniel... Teal'c... Friends -- they ARE life.