Famous Last Words
My Greatest Lesson
"How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?"
P. T. Barnum, entrepreneur, d. 1891
"Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him."
John Barrymore actor, d. May 29, 1942
"I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis."
Humphrey Bogart, actor, d. January 14, 1957
"Haagen-Dazs!" ~ My Father, Computer Science Professor, d. January 20th, 1983
Yes, those were my fathers famous last words.
Those words being the proof of the greatest lesson my father had provided me. Words that proved the sincerity of his last conversation with me two weeks prior to passing.
His last last conversation with me?
Justifying that "It is not the quantity of life that is most important. It is the quality of life that is most important." said my father.
Now I thought those were just the words expected from a dying man who was trying so hard to accept his own mortality. His fate.
That is until the night he died.
When his last words spoken to my mother that night were " Haagen-Dazs ". His very last two words ever spoken.
Mom came out of his hospital room and directed me to the nearest convenient store. I needed to get a pint of Chocolate Haagen-Dazs , and I needed to get it fast.
Having returned to his room with the Chocolate Haagen-Dazs , my mother slowly spooned half of that pint into his mouth to savor one last time.
It was at that moment that he was proving the sincerity of his last words to me. He just wanted some of his favorite ice cream to top off what was a short, but extremely sweet life.
It was not about the quantity of life. It was all about the quality of life.
Just needing some Haagen-Dazs to top it all off with. Two hours later he passed away, content.
He was 56 years old.
He taught me what credibility, integrity and dignity means.
"Haagen-Dazs" My fathers Famous Last Words.
