When Harriet Tubman was dying in 1913, her family gathered around her, and they sang together. Her last words were, “Swing low, sweet chariot.”
Yet, when comedian Groucho Marx was dying, he let out one last wisecrack, saying: “This is no way to live!”
People verbalize their last moments of life in very different ways. Some of these are somewhat haunting, like Leonardo da Vinci regretting that he had offended God and mankind “because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” And other times these last sentiments are interesting, like Winston Churchill’s last words: “I’m bored with it all.”
In a story I heard years ago, one man wrote a note on his deathbed that wasn’t read until a certain moment. It was read to honor the memory of the man but no one ever thought that the contents of the note would say what it did.
Let me tell you, what it says is completely shocking. When I first heard this, I never saw this coming…
“Marvin, was in the hospital on his death bed.
The family called Marvin’s preacher to be with him in his final moments. As the preacher stood by the bed, Marvin’s condition seemed to deteriorate, and Marvin motioned for someone to quickly pass him a pen and paper.
The preacher quickly got a pen and paper and lovingly handed it to Marvin. But before he had a chance to read the note, Marvin died.”
“The preacher feeling that now was not the right time to read it, put the note in his jacket pocket.
It was at the funeral, while he was speaking, that the preacher suddenly remembered the note."
“Reaching deep into his pocket the preacher said, ‘And you know what, I suddenly remembered that right before Marvin died he handed me a note, and knowing Marvin, I’m sure it was something inspiring that we can all gain from.’
With that introduction the preacher ripped out the note and opened it. The note said:
‘HEY, YOU ARE STANDING ON MY OXYGEN TUBE!’ ”
