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TO REMEMBER ME
The day will come when my
body will lie upon a white
sheet neatly tucked under
four corners of a mattress
in a hospital busily
occupied with the living and
dying. At a certain moment,
a doctor will determine that
my brain has ceased to
function and that, for all
intents and purposes, my
life has stopped.
When that happens, do not
attempt to instill
artificial life into my body
by the use of a machine. And
don't call this my deathbed.
Let it be called the Bed of
Life, and let my body be
taken from it to help others
lead fuller lives.
Give my sight to the man who
has never seen a sunrise, a
baby's face or love in the
eyes of a woman.
Give my heart to a person
whose own heart has caused
nothing but endless days of
pain.
Give my blood to the
teenager who was pulled from
the wreckage of his car, so
that he might live to see
his grandchildren play.
Give my kidneys to one who
depends on a machine to
exist from week to week.
Take my bones, every muscle,
every fiber and nerve in my
body, and find a way to make
a crippled child walk.
Explore every corner of my
brain. Take my cells, if
necessary, and let them grow
so that, some day, a
speechless boy will shout at
the crack of a bat and a
deaf girl will hear the
sound of rain against her
window.
Burn what is left of me, and
scatter the ashes to the
winds to help the flowers
grow.
If you must bury something,
let it be my faults, my
weaknesses and all prejudice
against my fellow man.
Give my sins to the devil.
Give my soul to God.
If, by chance, you wish to
remember me, do it with a
kind deed or word to someone
who needs it. If you do all
I have asked,
"I WILL LIVE FOREVER!" |
