Random Pensées

Further to last words

I had written about a "last lecture" given by Dr. Pausch, recently, and wondered, what would you say if you had the opportunity to give your last words to people you loved.

Well, yesterday, I got a partial answer to that question. Yesterday, I attended the funeral of my 95 year old great-aunt. I met up with her grandson, my cousin, in the parking lot outside the funeral chapel and he told me that she had called him on the phone the day before she died. She shared with him her last lecture, if you will. As with so many things in her life, it was direct and to the point and exquisitely focused on what is important in Life. She spoke to my cousin with the full knowledge that she was going to die and she remained in possession of her faculties pretty much right up to the very end of her long and wonderful life. Here's what she said:

"S____, I am going to die. Take care of your family. Good bye."

That was it, my cousin told me. Short and to the point. She was clear about what was important to her: family.

She was quite a lady, my great aunt.

And yes, I did end up speaking at her funeral. No one spoke about the importance of Judaism in her life, about celebrating Jewish holidays and living the Jewish calendar. So, I got up and did that. Her grandchildren thanked me for it. And you know what, I made everyone laugh, too. She would have liked that, also.