A rock star's last letter
 

Found via Facebook:

I will die… I know there are only a few months left until the end of my earthly journey…
What should I do? Despair, sink into depression, reject the idea of death, and pretend the illness doesn’t exist?
Or should I decide to defeat death… I decide it with my soul because only the soul and the heart give me the inspiration to compose music, as I’ve done for 50 years…
I count the hours I have left, and as the doctors tell me, I can predict, within a certain margin, the date of my death. The release of my last work is scheduled for January 8, 2016, my 69th birthday.
I work day and night; I have the time to compose, perfect, perform, record in the studio, and make videos… I do it as quickly as possible because I don’t want my face to show the mark of death, which mockingly is cutting down my body without me being able to defend myself…
But I challenge you, death… To hell with it if I don’t challenge you!
I challenged and conquered the world of fans in the '70s with the pride of ambiguity… I loved men and women; I was a man, a woman, an alien, and finally, a celestial body.
What can you do, death, against my eternity, my genius, my madness, my creativity, my music that will live forever?
I am Lazarus, torn from the scars. I will die in the body, but I will live forever through my music.
I lived long enough to receive birthday wishes. I thought I wouldn’t make it to see my album released… I survived January 8… And you, my dear killer, lost!
Just think, if you hadn’t knocked on my door, I would have created 24 works; I would have managed to live to 100, and instead, thanks to you, I have 25!
You know… I will be free as a bird.

-David Bowie
David Bowie - Wikipedia

I have seen much of this spirit regarding death in many Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients.