Any Last Words

Author’s note:

What you are about to read is from a special guest blogger, who happens to be one of my favorite people in the world.  She is my middle aged daughter, Sianna.  Hope you enjoy her sense of discovery and lucid thought, as much as I did. 

Her very proud father, Swavel

 

 

Any Last Words

                I am always amazed at how film directors always create the deepest, most moving, and most touching last words that take up a full minute. In reality, most people’s last words would be screams of terror. It always caused me to wonder what my last words would be. Last words can mean a lot. They can show your appreciation, be funny, or even change the way people think about you after they die. Here are some of my favorite last words:

                My bad. – I always wanted to use funny last words. This was something I want to say if my death is by some silly mistake I made. Like overheating myself by wearing a parka in the middle of summer. I know that would never happen in real life, but I wanted to start out this list on a light tone.

                I thought I’d have so much more time. – These last words are probably not something people would say outside of a movie. I chose this phrase because it’s so true. It’s like in the story where the boy is given a ball of yarn that, when unraveled, can skip through times in his life. Eventually, he skips through everything important including his and his wife’s deaths. Most of us often think that we have so much more time and, in thinking such, waste so much of the precious time we do have.

                I love you. – This phrase is a classic one so often used as last words in movies. It sounds so cheesy, but it’s still true. I don’t want to be like the person in the movies whose last words to their loved ones are an argument or harsh words over something stupid. My dad comes up to me at random times in the day and says, “Sianna, you are loved!” And I suddenly realize how little I tell him the same thing.

                I’m sorry. – I used to listen to a CD series called Down Gilead Lane. In one episode, a man died and the last words to his wife were, “I’m sorry.” This surprised me as the man had been a loving father of three and a strong Christian. And then I realized he was talking about before he was a Christian when he had never really been there for his family. He was apologizing for all the things that he did wrong in his life to anyone. That is why “I’m sorry,” has become some of my favorite last words.

                The simple truth is that I struggle to remind myself that all the things of this world are temporary. My Uncle Tim has often told me things like, “Everyone who has ever eaten broccoli has died.” People would gasp and ask if that was really true while I would think about it and say, “Wait a minute. Everybody dies eventually.” I want the people closest to me to know that I loved them, that I cared deeply for them, and to be proud of me and my accomplishments. 

My hope is this, that when my time comes, I’ll know just the right words to say. 

Sianna