If you will indulge me for a moment, imagine that you are, quite suddenly, quite dead. Consider those people you hang around the most, those who will be most wrenched by the sudden loss of you.
Now, don't you wish you'd written a final letter, or made a video saying goodbye? A final message, saying farewell as only you can?
It's not that hard. Just write down the things you want them to know, the things you wished you would have said (only now you can!) while you were alive. You can give advice. You can tell them to go on without you. You can remind them to floss.
You can say "I love you."
To me this sounded like a New Year's resolution that could actually make a difference. So I did it.
Have you? If not, why not? It doesn't take long. It's easy to do. Yes, it can be a bit emotional, but think about it: do you really want to leave without having the final word? I bet you don't.
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We watched Hogfather a few weeks ago, so I'll go with Death.
ReplyDeleteI, personally, am a fan of saying it now, not saving it up in a letter. If it's important to you, why wait? But then I've never been partial to having the last word.
Flossing is still important.
There's a very different impact between reminding someone to floss when they have the (illusion) that you'll be around for a while to keep reminding them, or telling them in one last missive that they know is the Very Last One. It carries a LOT more weight.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine what telling them to remember to take out the trash would do! Or, you know, that you love them. :)
Having the last word is powerful motivation :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for referencing Pratchett's Death - my favorite personification of death. I like how he says the reason the dead don't have emotions is because of no longer having glands.
Do you recommend giving these letters right away, or tucking them away with the rest of your estate papers?
Well, I was thinking of them being the notes that people find in your stuff after you die, the "tuck away with the rest of the estate papers" letters but I suppose you could do both. Maybe the tucked away one could start with "you thought you had my final letters before, but - ha ha! This is the REAL final letter! I'm really dead now! Fooled you!" :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a very cold stiff bird. Love, Brad
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