If you've lost someone close to you, you understand rethinking and remembering everything that person said to you. When my dad died, one of the last things he said to me was “be an artist". Those words became so important to me that I had them tattooed on my body. It goes to show that final words can make a huge impact.
You never forget the last thing someone says to you before they pass away. Here are a few instances of this, straight from the people of Reddit.
U/charcoalritual asked:
What's the last thing someone said to you before they died?
When you realize that your loved one is close to the end, their final words can be truly poignant and heartbreaking.
Goodbye.
"Bye [my name]."
"It was my big brother, he was in late stage terminal cancer. He passed at home the following night/morning."
She definitely had a wonderful grandson.
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"My grandma told me she loved me and how I saved her life by buying her that cordless phone (90s) because she was just laying on the bathroom floor, but she carried it with her like I told her and was able to call for help."
"She had crocheted a bag for it. She was in the end stages of cancer and I was driving up 4 hours every weekend to stay with her. I'd bought the phone a few weekends before and told her to take it with her. She'd never had a cordless phone so it was a big deal for her. She religiously kept it charged and on her when she got up."
"She told me she'd see me that weekend. She died that night."
Heartbreaking.
"My mother was at the end stage of Leukemia. I called her to see how she was doing. She was pumped full of morphine and close to the end. She told me she loved me and we hung up the phone. My dad called not too long after and said she was near the end and I needed to get on a flight immediately. I caught the next flight out to see her before she passed away."
"My uncle picked me up from the airport and informed me she had died while I was on the plane."
Sometimes, it’s the unexpected last words can be truly haunting.
They were both right.
"You don't have to visit me everyday, I'll leave hospital in two days anyway" My father said. I replied I'd still visit next day as I love him. In the end we both were right, sadly."
"He died 25 hours after that talk. So I visited his dead body next day, and he was transported out of hospital two days after we talked. I think this exchange will stick forever in my mind."
This is why you should always treat people with kindness.
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"See you tomorrow." My father on the phone. I found him dead in his house the next day. Fell, cracked his head open.
This is the type of sh*t people go through and strangers, don't even realize what a person has endured in life. Treat people right, lots of people have had many traumatic experiences already, or endured a lot of bad events in life.
An unexpected tragedy.
"'Oh it's fine, just a bump to the head. I'll take a painkiller and have a nap. Love you' My mom died of a brain hemorrhage 5 hours later."
Steve sounded like a fun guy.
"A man who helped raise me died about two days after I saw him last."
"Our final interaction was him telling the most embarrassing story about me to my new girlfriend. Thanks Steve."
"It's what he would have wanted to end on."
These things stick with you for a very long time after you lose a loved one.
This one is painful.
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"The last words I had with my late husband before he went in for surgery:"
Me: "Love you"
Him: "Love you more"
Tearing up reading this.
"I''m sorry we didn't talk as much as you wanted...' My grandpa's last words..."
So sad.
"My grandpa, on the phone."
"I wish we could've met".
"He lived in New Zealand, I live in Australia. I had met him, many times. Tore me up inside that it had been so long since I'd visited him that he'd forgotten me."
Let this be a reminder to keep your loved ones closer, and show gratitude for them every day. Life is unpredictable, and you never know when you'll lose them.
Give them a hug next time you see them, and remember to tell them you love them.
Do we even have a clue that they're the "one" that got away? How long until it sinks in? And how do we not know there isn't another "one" coming behind them? I have no answers. Just asking...
The Draft
Episode 1 Omg GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphy"The girl who summoned up the nerve to ask me out towards the beginning of high school. I was so humiliated by the life my family was living that I stalled until she gave up."
"Betsy, if by some stroke of dumb luck you're reading this... I'm so sorry. It was 25-27 years ago, but I still hate myself for that. You were beautiful, intelligent, a good person, and if I had anything resembling a stable, presentable home I would've said yes in a heartbeat... I had a crush on you since 7th-grade 'intro to drafting.'
I Love Her
"Weird, I was just confiding in my mom about this last night. I'm late but for catharsis's sake I'm going to post. My first girlfriend is a classic case of you don't know what you have until it's gone. She's the complete package. Beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, and so kind. We started dating when I was 17 and broke up when I was 21."
"For reference I'm 30 now. I was an idiot. I wanted to play the field. I wanted to party and hook up with college girls. It was fun at first but after a while I felt this gnawing hole in my heart. The feeling of doubt crept up slowly and still, a decade later my chest feels tight thinking about it."
"I didn't realize until my later serious relationships that getting along with your SO's family is so important. Her mom and step dad genuinely treated me like a part of their family. It's not a stretch to say I literally grew up with these people. I spent some of my most formative years with them. Birthdays, Thanksgivings, Christmases, you name it. They celebrated me and my accomplishments. They genuinely cared about me. Just amazing, salt of the earth, lovely people."
"Her birthday was in March and I sent her a text and we ended up talking for a bit. She's happily married and stable with a daughter and a second on the way. I'm genuinely so happy for her. She deserves happiness. I just wish I was a part of that. Sitting at work 10 years later I'm tearing up. I numbed myself out to it for years, it's so strange to me that I've been so stuck on her lately. Is this normal?"
- direct07
15 Years Later
"My very first real love. I was a teenager and I didn't really know how to be comfortable in myself or with myself. I played silly teen girl games and lost him even as a friend. Now 15 years later I still think about R from time to time. I genuinely hope he's happy in his life."
"Edit: Wow this blew up while I was sleeping. Thanks for all the sweet words and to everyone with their "one" congratulations! I suppose I hadn't looked him up on social media because I'm scared, scared he won't respond, scared he will respond, scared he'll think I'm a stalker. I'm in a happy relationship now, but what if... Etc etc etc. But I'll give it a Google."
Missed You Much
rhythm nation dance GIF by Janet JacksonGiphyA girl I dated in high school. Went on a date one time she took me out parking and I was too stupid to realize it.
"She always talked about moving away as soon as she got finished with high school. I always thought I would stay in a little town the rest of my life. Turns out I was the one who left and move to another state. Later I heard that she had told someone that I knew that she thought that we would be married at some point. Missed it by that much."
Ok... I've been a bit blind to the light. People can be cruel, but also highly creative. Why not just lead with the truth? It'll always hurt more after lies.
Chuck E.
Chuck E Cheese Wink GIFGiphy"Ah the rare AskReddit question I can answer."
"I met a wonderful woman circa 2013-2015. We worked at what I can best describe as an upscaled Chuck E Cheese. Or ghetto Six Flags. Your choice."
"We hit it off instantly, though at the time I was rather romantically inept. Eventually, she says she's leaving to join the Air Force. I tell her I'll miss her, and wished her well. The thought of asking for her number so we could stay in contact didn't even cross my mind."
"Cue the next day, I stop for lunch on my way to work, and as I'm walking to my car I hear my name being called. I turn around, and it's her, running toward me. Universe giving me a second chance, right? Wrong. My dumb butt still didn't ask for her number. She looked a little upset, and I still think about her often. Desiree, I hope you're doing well."
The Getaway...
"He was my first and last love. I was 16 and he was 18 when we met. We bounced around like idiots, on again off again, finally got together mid 20s. We both fell into bad habits - drugs and alcohol, more booze for me, more drugs for him. We had some bad things happen that were pretty detrimental to staying sober. We would split, reconcile, get sober, fall off the wagon, split, etc... repeat as necessary. We realized we were very bad for each other unless we could BOTH just get sober for ourselves, and split."
"Ten years later, I was sober for 7 years (still am, going on 18 years end of this month, actually! Woo, go me!) and he was beginning to come back, sober about a year. He contacted me, we met, talked about trying again. He said that once he had been totally clean for a year, we'd do it. That whole "Don't make any changes for a year" thing. I would visit him, tho, things were good."
"He woke up one morning feeling bad, thought he had the flu. (This was pre-now) I stayed around because he was sick, but neither of us thought he was drastically bad, just the flu, right? He got worse and worse, finally we called an ambulance because he got up from a nap and couldn't breathe. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Aortic dissection."
"He got away, but someday I'll see him again. I never stopped loving him, and him me. We just weren't good for each other."
Ce la vie...
"My most serious Ex."
"Don't think I truly understood love until I met her. Loved her more than I ever thought I could love anything. It eventually ended when she told me that, through no fault of my own, she had fallen out of love with me. That was 2 years ago, still hurts to think/talk about."
"Ce la vie..."
The Avoid...
"I'm in the middle of trying to avoid that right now actually."
"It's not worth the heartache trust me. I fought to stay in a relationship for an entire year. If I would've just let her go the first time she wanted there would've been a lot less pain. We would've left on good terms. I would've lost a lot less sleep. Rip the band-aid off because once the band-aid starts peeling it's inevitable it'll fall off with time."
Kim Tate Eye Roll GIF by Emmerdale"My ex and I broke up over 3 years ago. Mutual breakup through a lack of communication on both ends I feel."
"Thought I was over that hill until this week she messaged just to say hey and ask an innocent question. We text for the best part of the day and it's brought up a lot of old feeling. Feeling pretty bitter sweet right now."
Love is a mess. Why even bother trying if you can't be true? It's not hard to just spell out the situation. And if you're the one needing to put together the words... look closer. The dialogue shouldn't be difficult.
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