Before I Die Quotes

“It's all right, Tessa, you can go. We love you. You can go now.'
'Why are you saying that?'
'She might need permission to die, Cal.'
'I don't want her to. She doesn't have my permission.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“Every seven years our bodies change, every cell. Every seven years, we disappear.”
― Jenny Downham , Before I Die

“Maybe you should say goodbye, Cal.'
'No.'
'It might be important.'
'It might make her die.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“Instructions for Dad.

I don't want to go into a fridge at an undertaker's. I want you to keep me at home until the funeral. Please can someone sit with me in case I got lonely? I promise not to scare you.
I want to be buried in my butterfly dress, my lilac bra and knicker set and my black zip boots (all still in the suitcase that I packed for Sicily). I also want to wear the bracelet Adam gave me.
Don't put make-up on me. It looks stupid on dead people.
I do NOT want to be cremated. Cremations pollute the atmosphere with dioxins,k hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide. They also have those spooky curtains in crematoriums.
I want a biodegradable willow coffin and a woodland burial. The people at the Natural Death Centre helped me pick a site not for from where we live, and they'll help you with all the arrangements.
I want a native tree planted on or near my grave. I'd like an oak, but I don't mind a sweet chestnut or even a willow. I want a wooden plaque with my name on. I want wild plants and flowers growing on my grave.
I want the service to be simple. Tell Zoey to bring Lauren (if she's born by then). Invite Philippa and her husband Andy (if he wants to come), also James from the hospital (though he might be busy).
I don't want anyone who doesn't know my saying anything about me. THe Natural Death Centre people will stay with you, but should also stay out of it. I want the people I love to get up and speak about me, and even if you cry it'll be OK. I want you to say honest things. Say I was a monster if you like, say how I made you all run around after me. If you can think of anything good, say that too! Write it down first, because apparently people often forget what they mean to say at funerals.
Don't under any circumstances read that poem by Auden. It's been done to death (ha, ha) and it's too sad. Get someone to read Sonnet 12 by Shakespeare.
Music- "Blackbird" by the Beatles. "Plainsong" by The Cure. "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw. "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" by Sufian Stevens. There may not be time for all of them, but make sure you play the last one. Zoey helped me choose them and she's got them all on her iPod (it's got speakers if you need to borrow it).
Afterwards, go to a pub for lunch. I've got £260 in my savings account and I really want you to use it for that. Really, I mean it-lunch is on me. Make sure you have pudding-sticky toffee, chocolate fudge cake, ice-cream sundae, something really bad for you. Get drunk too if you like (but don't scare Cal). Spend all the money.
And after that, when days have gone by, keep an eye out for me. I might write on the steam in the mirror when you're having a bath, or play with the leaves on the apple tree when you're out in the garden. I might slip into a dream.
Visit my grave when you can, but don't kick yourself if you can't, or if you move house and it's suddenly too far away. It looks pretty there in the summer (check out the website). You could bring a picnic and sit with me. I'd like that.
OK. That's it.
I love you.
Tessa xxx”
― Jenny Downham

“Maybe I’ll come back as somebody else.
I’ll be the wild-haired girl Adam meets in his first week at university. ‘Hi, are you on the horticultural
course as well?”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“Don't pretend to care. I don't need you as an anesthetic.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“That slow smile again. I love that smile! DId I think he was ugly just now? No, his face is transformed.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“There's a gang of boys on bikes blocking the road ahead. They've got their hoods up, cigarettes shielded. The sky's a really strange colour and there's hardly anyone else about. I slow right down.

"What shall I do?"

"Reverse," Zoey says. "They're not going to move."

I wind down the window. "Oi!" I yell "Move your arses!"

They turn languid, shift lazily to the edge of the road and grin as I blow kisses at them.

Zoey looks stunned, "What's got into you?"

"Nothing- I just haven't learned reversing yet.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“I sit up in bed and watch her fiddle about in the back of my wardrobe. I think she's got a plan. That's what's good about Zoey. She'd better hurry up though, because I'm starting to think of things like carrots. And air. And ducks. And pear trees. Velvet and silk. Lakes. I'm going to miss ice. And the sofa. And the lounge. And the way Cal loves magic tricks. And white things- milk, snow, swans.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“He falls asleep quickly. I lie awake and listen to lights being switched off all over the town. Whispered
goodnights. The drowsy creak of bedsprings.
I find Adam’s hand and hold it tight.
I’m glad that night porters and nurses and long-distance lorry drivers exist. It comforts me to know that
in other countries with different time zones, women are washing clothes in rivers and children are filing to
school. Somewhere in the world right now, a boy is listening to the merry chink of a goat’s bell as he
walks up a mountain. I’m very glad about that.”
― Jenny Downham, Before I Die

“Je veux vivre avant de mourir.”
― Jenny Downham

“- ¡No puedo hacerlo!
- ¡Sí puedes! ¡Vive de prisa, muere joven y deja un bonito cadáver!”
― Jenny Downham

“Huelo diferente ahora que estoy prácticamente desnuda, a cálido almizcle. Él sabe diferente, a humo y algo dulce. A vida quizá.”
― Jenny Downham

“Will I still be your brother when you're dead? (Before I die)”
― Jenny Downhan

“Tal vez no tengamos que acostarnos. Tal vez podríamos tumbarnos simplemente y acurrucarnos, dormir uno en brazos del otro bajo el edredón. Tal vez nos enamoremos. Él buscará una cura y yo viviré para siempre.
Pero no.”
― Jenny Downham