How often do we knowingly say last words to someone? A great conversation with a cab driver and then...good bye forever. A stranger we connect with and then...good bye forever. It could be a boss or a colleague on a last day. Or someone we don't care for and never want to see again. Or someone we love but know we can't see again. The other day, a gardener who worked at my old house said two words to me. In three years, we never said a word to each other, just friendly waves. Knowing he'd never see me again because we were moving, he looked at me from far and just said, "thank you." There was nothing else to say. I waved back, knowing I'd probably never see him again.
2 comments:
I think the more interesting question is: How often do we unknowingly say last words to someone? Or, how often do we fail to see that the words we are hearing from another person are simply words bleeding into last words? How many times have we exchanged cheerful or clever witicisms with someone, not realizing it would be our last exchange? But I suppose we would rather not know.
Or how about this: What about when we know that we are looking at someone's face for the last time, and we know that they do not realize it is the end?
What a different world we would live in, personally and globally, if we treated all people, strangers, friends and loved ones, with this thought in mind each time we interacted with them. Possibly, we would never utter another unkind word or gesture towards them. What a beautiful thought.
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