Finish This Sentence: "Before I Die I Want To____________."

Meanderer

Meanderer

Supreme Member
“Before I die I want to _______.”

http://candychang.com/before-i-die-in-nola/

"After Candy Chang lost someone she loved, she went through a long period of grief and depression. With time she felt gratitude for the time they had together and eventually she found clarity in her life by contemplating death so much. But she struggled to maintain this perspective. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget what really matters to you. She wanted a daily reminder and she wanted to know what was important to the people around her. So after receiving permission, she painted the side of an abandoned house in her neighborhood with chalkboard paint and stenciled it with a grid of the sentence “Before I die I want to _______.” Anyone walking by could pick up a piece of chalk, reflect on their lives, and share their personal aspirations in public space". What would you write?
Before-I-Die-10-responses.jpg


Before I die I want to see my Great-Grand Daughter's wedding!

 

Thank you, Ina. You are most kind.

When I was young I wanted to do something glorious like discover a new element or show conspicuous bravery by saving someone's life. Now in my senior years I realise that making a difference is a much more modest situation so I am gratified that you think my posts on this forum have made some small difference. That's all it takes to justify someone's life.

Last night I watched a documentary about a community centre in Port Kembla, an iron and steel making town south of Sydney. The centre was a very positive place where all sorts of people were able to find community and a place to belong. The paid staff do their work for very small pay but there was a man who worked there for nothing. He was laid off at the steelworks and made himself the caretaker of the centre, opening up early and closing up late. He looked after the staff and the people who congregated in the centre and kept the building and its contents in good order.

During the making of the doco he was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to other organs. It was a terminal diagnosis. He was only 58 yo when he died some months later. In that time, everyone who knew him came to realise what a gift he had been. They rallied around him and helped him to come to the centre where he spent his days in a recliner chair until he finally had to be removed to a hospice. When he died, they joined with the family in preparing his body for burial and organised his funeral service and wake at the community centre.

It was so obvious that his very ordinary caring and service had made a huge difference to a lot of people.

If anyone can access this program on ABC iView, the link is here: http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/tender/DO1126H001S00
The program is titled 'Tender' and starts out on a completely different tack to the final direction the cancer diagnosis brings about.
Worth a look if you can access it.
 
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