If you haven’t noticed, I think about death a lot, cracking wise around the corner. It forces the moment, keeps me on the tip of my toes and reassures me that in the end, I’ll be in the arms of a lifelong friend.
When I was a pigtailed girl in the kaleidoscope of my brain, instead of letting a sappy ending dull me to sleep at night; I’d lie in the dark in bed, heaven rocking overhead, clasp my hands across my chest, take one last gasping breath and bring myself to the brink of death. Good thing I was lying down because I could have passed out.
In film school, I wrote a tragi-comedy about my funeral. I wanted to imagine that people loved me with complete abandon. I wanted to show them how and why. I sweat blood on the keys writing my eulogy, and I made myself cry.
Whenever I talk about dying, my 78 year-old mother says poo-poo, which is her way of warding off evil. I only hope it happens to me after she’s gone, because the way she talks, it would kill her. I’ll be sure not to tell her that my old pal J just dusted off his classic Honda 400 Super Sport that scarred my right leg forever, and asked me to go for a ride.
Forever is a dream.
These days, as the passing of time has it, I’ve been hanging with the final-chapter set, which is always a hoot. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, my beloved 84 year-old cousin Sara swears, I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be a blithering idiot. I wonder, why this sudden interest in decorum? I have adored this woman my whole life for her lack of tact and lusty mouth. Poo-poo.
In the moment, I come down to earth. It will be quiet when we’re dead.
(Sara always has the last word)
What are your favourite films about life and death? Here’s a trio of mine:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
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I love Being There too.
Comment by howard — September 27, 2012 @ 4:13 pm |
I loved the death scene in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” when the dying master of martial arts tells the woman he’s loved for a long time: “I’d rather remain a spirit by your side than enter Nirvana without you” (or something to that effect). Were more romantic words ever spoken?
Also, I’ve always liked cemeteries. I think they’re beautiful and peaceful, and the headstones can be so interesting.)
Judith Alexander
Comment by Judith Alexander — September 27, 2012 @ 5:57 pm |
Meditating on death allows us to savour the now. Halleluia!
Comment by Jean-Elliott Manning — September 27, 2012 @ 6:33 pm |
In the end, it binds us all.
Comment by Michael Olexo — September 27, 2012 @ 7:01 pm |
die happy my friend… as late as possible
r
Comment by rudy b — September 28, 2012 @ 10:37 am |
Love, death, cemetery, ghost, memories. Brenda, you go directy where the heart is! You are my fabulous blogger, writer!XX
Comment by Marie lynda — September 28, 2012 @ 11:42 am |
J’aimerais que mes dernières paroles soit woops! ou shit!
Plutôt que enfin!
Mon film sur la mort serait Monty Python’s THE MEANING OF LIFE
J’adore ta façon d’écrire, si imagée.
Bizous MB)
Comment by Mathieu Beaudin — September 30, 2012 @ 5:20 pm |
Thank you, merci tout le monde. Long life a vous tous!
Comment by Burns the Fire — October 13, 2012 @ 6:57 am |
The Seventh Seal. Wow. And, if you haven’t seen it recently, see it again.
Comment by Barry — February 6, 2013 @ 2:21 pm |