Well my grandad hasn't been well since november really, but within the last month he has really gotten worse. And today he/we got told it is only a matter of days, a week if we're lucky. So well what came to mind is what would you do if you only had a week left? I mean nothing mad like skydive or something, I mean realistically if you were stuck in hospital, or in the middle of nowhere with no water or food and there was no hope, what would you do?
Personally I would write my thoughts down. I dunno something my family could keep hold of, or something to represent my life. But what would you do? Would you end your life? Would you re-read a favourite book? Would you just sit or something?
I just can't bare to think that by next week a man's life will end. End of the book. Surely you would want finish giving all you can in life, before it ends.
I had a similar situation a year ago when my grandfather got a serious heart attack, so first of all, you got my feelings, and I hope the man can find his peace in his own way, content.
I think I would, if possible, spent as much time as there's left with the people I like. I dunno, just chatting and having a good time. None of those "I'll die soon so let's all be friends" affairs, though this would be pretty hard to achieve. But I firmly believe that I will leave a mark of some sorts, and as long as I know that there'll be some guys remembering me, I have no need of writing down what I was or what I did. I'll continue in a way.
Heavy topic, mate.
Most probably I would continue my normal life as if nothing was going to happen. I wouldn't waste time sitting at home though, I would go out with friends, but nothing exagerrated. Just continue the usual enjoying way.
Or I wouldn't be able to take the huge dilemma and just committed suicide to make it easy.
(Oh God, that's terrible even to think of. I hope I will never have to stand in a situation like this, and am deeply sorry for anyone that will/have been in it.)
Would I be lying on a bed or going around drinking my way to heaven? Depends pretty much on the state of my health. If I were bound for hospital, I'd either yeah, gather notes, but as I'm only 22 soon, there's not much to gather, so I'rd probably just watch X-files the whole week.
Being that I was healthy enough, I'd prolly spend the time with my relatives and divide my belongings between them. Write some poems, maybe a song, and then sit down all night watching X-Files.
I would like to have dinner with Aria Giovanni...
Hey, I received a PM telling me that my reply to this thread was unnappropiate...
I must say, in my deffence, that I didn't saw the initial posts mentioning that the thread was inspired by Indie's grandfather difficult situation. I just took a glance to the posts and saw people replying "I would see the X-files", "I would go out with friends..." And I replied thinking that this was another simply "What would you do if...". Another thread asking for a fast reply, similar to "Which is your favourite Sierra NPC?", for example.
I must apology, but I replied sincerelly... If I had one week, I would really like to have dinner with her. I followed her carreer almost from the beginning, I like her when she does interviews, I like her blog... I find her amusing, pretty and interesting, and, if I had only a week, with nothing to care about the people' s reactions, I would try to make my dream of knowing her come true.
Maybe your grandfather has a weird, apparently silly dream, that can still be accomplished (Dunno... See the sea, see the dvd of that boxing fight he heard in the radio some years ago, eat something cooked by someone...) Hope it helps...
As said in the PM, I replied sincerelly... If your mind is too obtuse to go further, and too dirty to see my reply just as a "try to fuck the pornstar", maybe it's you who have a problem. Call mr. Freud.
Your reply struck me as jokey rather than sincere, honestly. Indie, I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather, especially since you seem to be close to him. I've had a few close relatives die and it almost feels like it is happening to someone else at first, until the reality hits home that you are not going to see these people again (unless you believe in an afterlife or have home videos).
I'd spend time with my sons and wife.
Nacho, I have nothing against your post, if anything after a quick google it made me laugh. The whole reason I made this thread was beacuse this sudden news had really made me think about life.
I'm not the kind of person that starts a thread about my life problems on an internet forum, or the kind of person which would just randomly ask the question, "What would you do if you had a week to live?" 'cause I was bored.
Actually it saddens me you got such a PM Nacho.
Edit:
I have came to the conclusion that with human nature if you are given limits, all you think about are these limits. If you are given a week to do something, it will take you that week. However if you are given two weeks to do the same task it will take you those two weeks. Now surely finishing all you ever wanted to accomplish in life in a week can't be that hard really.
Thanks, Indie. :)
And Prog, I am being honest... I don't really know what else can I do to prove it that saying it again, but if you don't want to believe me, I can't do anything else.
I'd be grateful for getting a weeks warning rather than just being randomly hit by a bus, and would hit the bottle in style.
EDIT: On a serious note, you always know that your grandparents and your parents will die at some point. Although it is painful to watch them gradually deteriorate, at least when this happens you have the opportunity to spend their final moments with them and make peace.
By far the hardest type of situation to deal with is when somebody you love suddenly dies one day without warning -- whether it be a heart attack, car crash or freak boating accident. Coming to terms with that can be very difficult, especially if the last time you saw them you had an argument and left on bad terms, or never had a chance to tell them things that you wanted to say.
I know I would be in pain and suffer for knowing that I would be apart from my wife and kids.
I actually fear death a lot, it really scares me that I might die and not accomplish the things I have in mind.
It's not a physical fear, it's much worse.
Death is a serious issue and not on a "Grim Fandango" way.
Even believing in God doesn't take away the fear I have for the ones that I would leave behind.
Quote from: Pumaman on Mon 16/02/2009 23:02:17
By far the hardest type of situation to deal with is when somebody you love suddenly dies one day without warning -- whether it be a heart attack, car crash or freak boating accident. Coming to terms with that can be very difficult, especially if the last time you saw them you had an argument and left on bad terms, or never had a chance to tell them things that you wanted to say.
I think that the hardest situation to deal with is to lose someone who should die after you: Your kids, etc. To lose young people. The kids bury their parents, not the parents their kids...
Which reminds me a story that my father told me. He's a doctor, cardiologist (some may know this). When he was starting out, in Newcastle, on the first few days he lost a patient. Quite old in age. He didn't feel much, as he told me and was shocked at that. He couldn't believe that someone he knew and 'cared for' died and he didn't feel much pain, or guilt or anything. Next few days he lost a kid around 20-25 years of age (not sure of the circumstances, since he's a cardio, thus he doesn't deal with emergencies). He couldn't sleep for days and days... :-\
* Spend all my earthly belongings to fill this week with enjoyment.
* Borrow money from hell and earth to fund my crazy week.
If that's not enough, * Break law. In every imaginable way. If possible, make my loved ones rich.
* Do some really extreme things, like parachute jumping or bungee.
* Do that thing where you're tied to a parachute and tied it drags you flying over sea. Parasurfing/kitesurfing! I've always wanted to do that, but never got to.
* Make ton of youtube videos giving out everything I can contribute as analyzing, thinking individual.
* Do something to get myself known in public.
* Do everything I won't do in fear of regret. To find out if I should have risked before.
* Improve social standing with other people. Open myself to them. Let them know what they missed. Make em' cry on my grave later.
And I'm not kidding.
I know how it feels. I lost my favorite grandmother back in 2001. She died of cancer. It came on quickly and only gave her a few months to live, but i would not call that living..The last words she ever said to me was I Love You..and she died the next day.
I think about her every day. I loved her so much. :'(
I'm sorry, I just have to reply. I'm wwwwwith Nacho here, as I was just at a karaoke club. Well. My friend had birthday, and the club had the same name as she did. So... we were there.
I told her her ister wads hot. her sister told me she had big boobs, which was true, bur she said her friend had bigger, and her friend came over. the y said I should try them, so I grabbed her breast, which was big. Anyway... Youy know what I mean better than I do, right? because I dont. Night.
Anyway. I like smaller than huge.
I like to think that I would spend less time dwelling on the fact that I was going to die and make sure my family and loved ones had the best week of their lives... If I was confined to a hospital bed then I would tell them to bring board games, movies, fast food, booze. Together we would make prank phonecalls and tease the nurses. We would discuss funeral arrangements and I would personally make the phone call to arrange a stand-up comedian to play at my wake.
I would talk about old times, and discuss my family's future. Give them words of encouragement (people tend to take advice more seriously when its given to them by someone on their deathbed).
I know in reality, all this is just talk. In reality, it is probably going to be a very sad and painful time for everybody concerned, but I find it difficult to think about that. My thoughts go out to you Indie, my friend, and your grandfather in this difficult time. :)
Morbid.
Death affects us all differently. How you cope with it is incredibly personal. I try to spend my time not thinking about it.
Viva life, and more pornstars.
I would read Stephen King books...I kinda like him and he wrote so much, I would want to know some more of his work before I die :)
Also, my biggest dream is to leave something behind, something that people will enjoy for years. You know, like those oooold oooold games that people still download sometimes or talk about. So if I was able to make something like that I would work on it as hard as hell instead of reading... But if I couldnt...well... King's books are always interesting :) Or maybe some anime...Sh** there is so much to read and watch...It's a shame that you dont have enough time to get to know it all even if you read books/watch movies whole your life non stop...
Quote from: InCreator on Tue 17/02/2009 00:00:48
* Do everything I won't do in fear of regret. To find out if I should have risked before.
* Improve social standing with other people. Open myself to them. Let them know what they missed. Make em' cry on my grave later.
Now this really made me think.
But really, the feeling that you find out last week that you should have risked all your xx-year long life...that sounds just terrible.
Personally, I would probably prefer not to get a warning at all.
I like how Nacho gets a PM for his post, and then Tuomas composes this drunk rant which is pretty much out of line even in a less serious discussion...
I will explain my reply, better, again, for the skeptics.
I like that girl... Not because she is gorgeous (she is) but mostly because she seems cool (Actually, what made me see her as "my favourite model" was when, during her divorce, she won some pounds... and went on modelling. She is a person who is proud of being "normal". A non skinny, voluptuous girl who doesn't fit the modeling conventionalisms... and doesn't care.
If you browse the internet propperly (not just looking nude pics of her) you' ll find a lot of personal photos, interviews, thoughs... I' ve reached to the moment when I basically consider her nude pics as gross, and I preffer to collect as much as "Aria' s normal life shoots" as I can. This surpassed the phisical attraction, and I could say that I have a little crush on her.
Why don't I do something about it? Well... because it should be stupid. She is in LA, probably with a relation, (like me!), I don' t know where she lives... People would call me nuts for flying oversees to meet a girl I' ve only seen in photos, and they would probably be right. If I do it and I finally approach her, there would be 99.9% that her reaction was more like the one Pamela Anderson had when she met Borat than a friendly one. The possiblity of a romantic reaction must be something like 0.0000001%.
But if I had a week to live I wouldn't mind of that. I am not one of those who likes to be surrounded be relatives when I am down (I feel I can manage almost all my problems alone, I don't want to pass my sorrow to the ones I love, I consider it shellfishy...) So, I would probably tell nothing about my inminent death, I would say goodbye to all in the best way I could (difficult to do, if you don't really want to say what's going on...) and I would travel to LA to make me dream come true... I wouldn' t care of the effects, anyway, I was going to die in a week...
QuoteI just can't bare to think that by next week a man's life will end. End of the book.
Even though death scares me, I always thought that men who left the world even a little bit better than they found it are going to live forever in the actions, thoughts and minds of future generations.
Sorry to hear that about your grandpa.
Quote from: Pumaman on Mon 16/02/2009 23:02:17I'd be grateful for getting a weeks warning rather than just being randomly hit by a bus, and would hit the bottle in style.
Yeah no kidding. I'd like to think I'd do all sorts of crazy, great stuff the last week of my life, but I'd probably just slide into a pathetic depression instead. With good reason.
I've actually thought this over a bit too well, as a slight error of judgement by a doctor when I was 8 branded into my mind that I wasn't going to live past 20. I'd had a very strong heart murmur and along with it some rather uncomfortable pains and problems and whatnot when I was a young voh. I spent a fair bit of time in the hospital getting tested, and for some reason the cardiologist found it necessary to discuss some of the more negative possibilities of the situation in front of the 8-year old.
My mom agrees that that may not have been the wisest choice. All in all, I ended up drinking myself stupid on my 21st birthday, believing that there was a realistic chance that I wouldn't wake up the day after. I'd spent that entire week hanging out with friends, reconnecting with old mates and with my family. Nothing morbid, just having a good old time and making sure the people I loved knew I appreciated them.
Should the situation ever repeat itself in that I feel that I know I've only got a short amount of time left, I'd to the exact same thing. Like everyone else in the world, I want to be remembered, and I want to be remembered in a positive way. I'd make sure that those who are important to me in that period know damn well I thought so.
Regardless, sorry to hear about your gramps, indie. Lost my gramps and grams in the span of a year, and they were my last grand-anythings. It sucks, but hey, they're old and it was bound to happen some day. Just make sure you think of them from time to time and that they live on in your mind and heart. It's all you can do, but it's pretty damn awesome. My gramps will always be with me (not just because I've got his awesome ukulele right here, which reminds me of him every single day :)).
Support & remember.
You should watch the movie The Bucket List, Indieboy.
QuoteWhat would you do if you had a week to live?
Save Aria Giovanni from Nacho's hands.
I would never do something bad to Ari :)
I'd tell my best friend how I really feel about her. Beyond that, I'd do what anyone else would do... Make the best of it. I'd try to write out all of my important views on life for others to stumble upon, I'd give away my precious belongings to those who'd appreciate them, make amends with old enemies or faded friends, spend time with family, friends, whatever. Make peace with the world, and perhaps fix a crooked picture frame on my way out the door.
I'd make a OROW
I'm surprised I'm the first one to say that!
But in actuality I have no idea. Quit my job of course. I love my job but it's not THAT important! Throw a party? I've never done that before, would people even come? Bah, too complicated! I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it! I hope the bridge doesn't take a week to cross.
This thought of the last-week time spent with friends and family is nice on one hand, but on the other, isn't it just a bit weird to try to fix something you didn't all your life in the last few days? I mean, I try to live the way that if a bus would overrun me today, I would have almost nothing to regret. I try to keep that "tell my friends what they mean to me" obvious during my life, not just the end of it. I'm sure people know how I feel about them.
Not spending enough time with your loved ones all your life doesn't get fixed when you do that the very last week. I know that the point is to really, REALLY make them know what you feel, even if you did that before. But still, I would spend the last week of my life exactly like I lived before.
Just a thought.
I'd do what I would normally do, it would depress me to know I need to do all the wild stuff in a week, because I've never lived my life..so if your grandpa acts like nothing is happening be glad for him.
1 week to live (assuming my condition allowed me to continue living "normally" for the week):
Day 1: Eat well and spend my money on all kinds of crazy stuff (have no kids, so no need to worry about their inheritance)
Day 2: Continue what I did yesterday
Day 3: Have all the sex I can, no need to worry about STD's.
Day 4: Travel abroad, see the world. I always wanted to visit Britain, Germany and the US.
Day 5: Return home, attempt to purchase a firearm legally / illegally if necessary.
Day 6: Hunt down all those bastards who picked on me in first and second grade. Senseless murder for childhood wrongdoings. Bastards...
Day 7: Suicide before I die. The last thing I will accept is lying in a hospital bed waiting for that last breath. If necessary, I would commit suicide earlier.
I'm not sure I would hurry to see everything and try to sleep with countless of women. Sounds stressful. After a week of rushed sight-seeing - prolly lots of late flights and lost baggage, and a dozen anticlimaxes involving women that you either regret having met, or really want to see again, which you tragically enough can't, you'd probably rather have spent that time sitting in a nice garden, enjoying a cup of tea and reading a good book.
Quote from: Andail on Fri 20/02/2009 11:08:17
I'm not sure I would hurry to see everything and try to sleep with countless of women. Sounds stressful. After a week of rushed sight-seeing - prolly lots of late flights and lost baggage, and a dozen anticlimaxes involving women that you either regret having met, or really want to see again, which you tragically enough can't, you'd probably rather have spent that time sitting in a nice garden, enjoying a cup of tea and reading a good book.
Exactly my point, man. I'd add the title of the book as well.
I agree with that. I wouldn't do anything I wouldn't do if it wasn't my last week.
You can't change your life with the last week.
The magic, the enjoyment of your life lies in what you do your average days, not in a super-adventureous turbo week.
You wouldn't be able to avoid the fact that it was your last week... you might try to act like nothings different, but your family certainly wouldn't be. That's why I like to think I'd spend the week trying to make things less difficult for them.
Sitting round pretending like it's any other week would be cruel to all the people who are crying and praying for you.
Well, maybe.
But I don't know what I would do even if I wanted to make it easier for them. Wouldn't be that even harder for them to know that it's my last week?
But I have to admit that it would be hell of a difficult to remain sane and pretend nothing's happening.
Maybe I would just tell people things I normally wouldn't because of fear of upsetting them/rejection/not being nice to them/etc.
Something like InC wrote about that finding that you should have risked in your life more than you did.