Do we get wiser as we get older?

Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked,  
'How old was your husband?'  
 '98,' she replied.  'Two years older than me'  
'So you're 96,' the undertaker commented.  
She responded, 'Hardly worth going home, is it? 

 

Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman:  
'And what do you think is the best thing  
About being 104?' the reporter asked.  
She simply replied, 'No peer pressure.' 

 

I've sure gotten old!
I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, 
New knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes 
I'm half blind, 
Can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, 
 
Take 40 different medications that 
Make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. 
Have bouts with dementia  
Have poor circulation; 
Hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. 
Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. 
Have lost all my friends.. But, thank God, 
I still have my driver's license.

 

My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. 
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.

 

  
Always Remember This:  
You don't stop laughing because you grow old,  
You grow old because you stop laughing!! 

 

 

 

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And in memory of all those who lost their lives on Sept 11th 2001

These are some things that we said by relatives on a recent Channel 4 Programme called '9/11 Phone calls from the tower' broadcast on Sept 6th 2009

You lose the sound of their voice
It is comforting to know its there

THE LEGACY – to speak on the phone and say
The calls talk of the choices people make in their final moments and who they want to talk to

I just want to let you know I love you

I know she is there and I know she is listening
I will know I was the last person she ever spoke to – dad I love you – Father of 31 Melissa Harrington Hughes

3000 calls in the first 10 minutes alone from the North Tower

The sonic record is so important, these calls show us what we can’t see with our eyes and without which we would not have a full understanding

Sept 11th started like any other morning – you switch on the Tv and you see the place where your daughter is and you are heart broken, all I could do was give her advice and ‘I love you’s’

At the moment of his death (Stephen) was with us and was on even terms with all his family – we had him for 33 years and we have a feast to return to – the feast of memories

Families often have a map of where their loved ones are in the world and in your mind you are trying to place your loved one and where they are in this terrible moment

Some people spent their last moments being comforted on the phone, many others did not

Jim Gartenburg even went live on air to say he was stuck on 86th floor – tried to reach out to as many people as he could to tell people to ‘take it easy’ even though many people knew this was not the case but as far as his wife was concerned these were amazing last words to hear.

Fire fighters knowing what they might face left voice messages of love for their family, they knew it was serious and something they may not get out of

You can’t remember the sound of peoples voices after they have gone

While some provide consolation others are a painful opportunity of eg not picking up a phone and not having that opportunity to say goodbye – what would have happened had I answered the phone – the Brian’s last words and this is one of the reasons why people made calls so their last words could be heard

Melissa was a very ambitious young lady, she bought a BMW – dad I may never have another opportunity to have one again – she wasn’t here for long but she had a wonderful 31 years

Her voice had hopelessness but still it said – I’ll love you forever buddy and although it wasn’t a good thing it was good to hear her voice, always good to hear the voice

There is a great comfort in the fact I got to talk – not a great comfort then but a great comfort months later and it was a great comfort for him to say ‘I love you’

People used their last minutes to say – you made my life better, take care of so and so, I want you to know this truth – desperate truth and transcended truth

Some phone calls told agonising details of difficulties to breathe, smoke, up to water from the sprinklers – even there was no body a paper record of his phone calls was something the family hold on to

From 105th floor father of 3 Kevin Cosgrave was speaking as the tower fell and part of this call was made public in part of the terrorist trial to show the human suffering – we’re young men we are not ready to die

Not just a news story or a movie, it had real people inside

Some people do not want share their last messages

Life is short, you never know, so spend every minute you can showing them that love

The message that he left meant everything to me and as time went by I created a new message that had never been left thinking he had left it – eg he said I’ll be alright and I'll call you and I created a message ‘I’ll be alright and you will too’ – I made him say it over  – mother of Stephen

What are memories made out of – memories or hard fact, the audible is important because memories are real – the legacy of loved ones final words

To just have his voice is nice even though its panic mode