I watched the sitcom How I Met Your Mother this morning. It was an episode where Marshall Eriksen, during the sermon, was having some difficulties in remembering his father's (good) last words. It's not that his father was not a good person, but it was because, despite of being a good parent, he barely ended his sentences with good words. He most likely had something sarcastic or cynical to say about other people even if it was true.
Marshall's problem makes his friends think about what their father said the last time they met them. And no matter how rude or hurting what their fathers said, at the end, everyone decides to patch it up by making calls to them. That includes Barney who has never wanted to meet his.
Then I tried to remember what my dad's last words before he passed away. He definitely was not like Marshall's father in finishing conversations. He was instead, one of the most polite person I've know in live. He would have rather stay quiet when he didn't have anything good to say. In fact, most of his words reflected how smart and wise he was. Even though I didn't spend as much time with him as I hoped, he has taught me a lot through his words of wisdom. That's probably why I'm having the same problem with Marshall's since I remember too many of his kind words that I forget which was his last. It's easy for me to remember my mom's last words since I spent quality time by her side during her suffering moment, a couple of hours before her early departure. But my last conversation with my dad took a couple of days before he left for good. And that was on of those days when I tried to catch up with the lost good times I should've had with him during my college years.
Nevertheless, it doesn't seem to matter now what his last words were since I'm pretty sure they were something kind. Whatever they were, they have made me a better person overall. All I need to remember is how he taught me to survive life as he may have expected me to.
Now before it's too late, you should talk to your parents more often in ways that they would say things that benefit you. Should you expect them to be kind words, then you should work it out so you can earn them.
