The end of an era

[rhu]

So this is it. In a few minutes I will walk out the door, and this phase of my life will come to a close. Someone referred to it as the end of a chapter, but it feels more like the end of a tractate.

Here's part of my farewell e-mail to my co-workers. Some of you may enjoy it:

I'm horrible at goodbyes.

But I'm pretty good at puzzles.

So here are some famous goodbyes --- famous last words of real and fictional mammals, and last lines from literature. Once you've gotten them all, reading the first letter of each line in order will give you a final message from me.

 _ _   _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _?    (Thomas Jefferson)
 _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _    (John Adams)
 _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _    (The dolphins)
 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _!    (Judge Turpin)
 _ _   _ _,   _ _ _ _ _?   _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _!    (Julius Caesar, per Shakespeare)
 _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _,   _ _   _   _ _.    (Oscar Wilde)
 _ _ _ _ _   _ _   _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _   _ _   _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _!    (Vizzini)
 _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _   _ _,   _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _    ("A Christmas Carol")
 _ _ _ _ _ _ _    (Charles Foster Kane)
 _ _ _ _ _?   _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?    ("My Fair Lady")
 _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _!    (Voldemort)
 _ _ _   _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _!    (Cody Jarrett)