What do I have to do to graduate from this place?

I had an aha moment this week.  I was visiting a loved one at a nursing home/assisted living facility, when he asked me:

Make memories. They last into eternity.

“What do I have to do to graduate from this place?”

I am really glad I did not answer what my mind was thinking.

In response, I lied and said, “I don’t know”.

The truth is I do know, but I did not have the heart to speak the truth.  You see in order to graduate from that place would be to pass from this life into the next.  Oh, we have discussed dying and he is ready to die.  He actually told me quite a few times, “I am really tired and I just want to go home”.  I held his hand and leaned my cheek to his as we cried.  We talked about my Maw-maw and Paw-paw and my Mom.  We imagined what that day would be like and he told stories of yesterdays gone by.

We shared laughter, tears and love.  He had moments where his mind was sharp and moments where it was not so much.  But I am grateful for the good moments.

After I left, I had a hard time remembering the funny things he said and wished I had them on tape.  The next time I went to visit, I took a tape recorder and hoped for more really good moments; which I was able to capture on tape.  You know, I kept saying I was going to do that before my mom passed, but I never did.  I guess I was not ready to accept the fact that she would be leaving me soon.  Today however, I regret not bringing my tape recorder and capturing her wonderful spirited ways of story telling.  Now I must rely on my memory to recreate her stories.

So if someone you love will be leaving you soon and you have the luxury of knowing it, take a video or tape recorder and capture their words, their pauses, their tone and wonder to share or just remember.

Thank you Uncle: For all the memories of the past and the ones I hope to make before you move on.