On the 22nd of October 2007, after a long walk through the Japanese Alps near Takayama (Japan) and while about to take a traditional Japanese bath, I was struck by a seizure. I was rushed into a hospital where tests showed that this seizure was in fact caused by a primary tumor in the left side of my brain. This event marks the beginning of a complex period in our lives, full of uncertainties about the present and future and there is so much to do in perhaps so little time.