"I'm not here to bring any negativity to the room because that's not in my sunny nature and I'm not here to say good-bye, because I don't believe in good-byes.... When we're apart, we are simply elsewhere. I don't believe in good-byes, but I certainly do believe in thanks. I have never lied to you before and I'm not gonna start this afternoon, so some of the events of the past two months have been born on the wings of rumor and other things and I'm here to set you straight.

"This past Tuesday, on GUIDING LIGHT's aired show, Mayor Marler entered the bar, met a new, young constituent named Ava and after two scenes of Ross feebly trying to hit on Ava, he gets a call that his daughter's been in a minor accident.... So, he rushes to Dinah's side because he knows that she is at Cedars hospital, and if you have a medical problem, this is the last place you should go. Because if Dr. Rick gets ahold of you, three things could happen: He could misdiagnose you, he could misplace you or both.

"[So] he left the hospital, went down to the subterranean parking garage, went to his car, a Honda Civic, and as the mayor was fumbling for his keys, he's struck on the head from behind. He fell to the concrete floor. Right before he slipped into unconsciousness, he looked up and realized he was abducted by Erika Slezak [Viki, OLTL] and Robert S. Woods [Bo, OLTL]. Ms. Slezak picked him up — she's a very strong lady — threw him in the trunk of the car, shut the lid and then drove, for nearly two hours. I came to. They opened the trunk lid, I got out and realized I was in Llanview. I looked down and realized I was wearing cowboy boots. And I looked at my lapel, and it had a little sign that said, 'Hello, I'm Clint.'

"As somebody said, all's well that ends well and I'm here to give you a news flash. Another thing that transcends show business is friendship and from that I gave to you, you gave to me, as well as these people behind me. Twenty-six glorious years and for that I say thank you."