What, on a TUESDAY?

Okay, folks, clearly I’m doing something a little different with this, my final column in this amazing space we all love so much. How could I let it be Businesslady as Usual during such a strange and transitional period?

I love lifting with a strength and dedication I didn’t know I was capable of. I love how much of what I learn in training is applicable to real life. This is growth. This is progress. This is not failure.

When I found out at the age of 22 that I was not somehow failing at being liked by others, but that a series of horribly well-meant mistakes by my parents, teachers and pediatricians had kept me from the autism diagnosis I should have had when I was eight, the only thing that cheered me up for months was hunting for serial killers in Copenhagen and Malmö.

If Barack Obama were your dad, you would know you shouldn't ask him for help with your government homework, but you’d do it anyway, and he would go on and on and on for so long it would be like the damn State of the Union. You wouldn't be able to escape, so you'd start keeping track of how many times he said "Let me be clear" (15).

I've gathered responses from a few readers on what The Toast meant to them. Think of it as signing The Toast's senior yearbook.

Today in Ms. Frizzle's class we were learning about the body. "What body?" Carlos kept asking anyone who would listen. "Somebody." Ms. Frizzle laughed uproariously every time he said it. "Somebody! That's good, Carlos!" Ms. Frizzle was in a good mood today.

I HID MY EARS. I LOOK SILLY.

Just read everything; gather ye Toast while ye may.

(One more week.)

Dearest Toasties,
Thank you for being the kindest, cleverest, most wonderful people. The Bartender will miss pictures of all your animals, your advice, your brilliant hilarity, and the goodness and care you show one another.

I IS DOG. MIGHTY AND TALL.

Well, this morning is far more depressing than we had expected, so this seems like a bit of a broken balloon now. But you can still buy a tote.

First, you should know that creating these recipes involved a totally normal number of open tabs related to cheesecake (roughly 10).

Those of us with the types of depression that ebb and flow, insidiously creeping up when we least expect it, might not have our shields up and ready when the tide comes in. But a few months ago I happened to feel another bout of depression looming before it knocked me off my feet and accidentally discovered a strategy for fighting it.