Before I Die.

Some of you may have preciously read this post before but for some reason I had pulled it. I am not sure why but none the less, I found it in my drafts. The topic of this post is very dear to me in that it is something I have imagined on many occasion. Maybe one day my dream for this to happen will come true!

In my dream, I am a very old man. I look over the crowd ... I am about to speak. This is the day I have been waiting for all of my life and it has finally come. If I were to die tomorrow, I would die happily as I would have fulfilled a dream. All ages out there in the audience … all wondering what I am about to say ... all waiting in silence. I can't see them all in the slightly darkened room since my eyesight isn't as clear as it once was many years ago. I have to stay seated because my hips and knees are all but shot and my strength isn't as it once was. I find it hard to breath, stand and talk all at the same time for very long.

Nervously, I clear my throat and proceed to speak into the microphone. The crowd is startled by the squelch from the microphone. I begin again.

“I have been waiting many years to impart on you what is on in my heart and in my soul…”

The people in the room listen to what I have to say. They are more than casually interested in what I am about to impart … They are personally interested for they are my family … three, four, five generations worth … all of them about to hear what may be my last words ever to the group … at least that is what I have dreamed about for many a year.

If this dream was to come true, I would take the opportunity to tell each one of them about how proud I am of them. I would tell them that I love each and every one of them with every piece of my being. I would encourage each of them to live their life to the fullest. I would encourage them to always remain a family. I would explain to them the importance of being there for each other for support and encouragement. I would tell them to never miss an opportunity to tell the family around them that they love them and will always be there for them.

I would speak clearly. I would speak slowly. I would speak with such a love in my heart. I would speak with tears in my eyes.

I don’t have much of a legacy to give to my family; I have made many mistakes and have a few regrets, but I do have one thing I could give them and that is the love I have for them and the pride I have of them. This pride and Love I have is not for what they have or have not done but for who they are … My family!

So, maybe, now that I think about it, I will have a legacy to share after all! It is called Love. Maybe my dreams will be fulfilled in that, when I die, my family will remember me for what I have been to them throughout my life … a family member who loved them and was very proud of them.