June 20, 2026
There was this story of a political activist who was considered an enemy of State and sentenced to death. His last act when given the chance, was to hug his mother. This got people curious. Why not his wife, a child, or any of his comrades-in- arms? The message here however, is not that he chose his mother, but that nobody else can really know what our last wish is until we act on it.
No one can adequately second guess our last testament if not told, or to avoid ambiguity, if not written down. Many of us know about the need to tidy up our earthly affairs, but very few of us act decisively on it. Many believe it is morbid. Or that there is time. Or both. Yet, only the lucky ones – or unlucky depending on how one looks at it – get a premonition of imminent death. The rest of us are caught off-guard.
One minute, we are making long term plans, the next minute we are no more – like the rich man in the Bible who was planning bigger barns to house an expected harvest only to have his soul taken from him that same night. A few days before I sat down to work on this column, our cleaning lady came into the house teary eyed. Her cousin, to whom she was very close, had died the night before. They had spoken in the morning and had promised to get in touch with each other after work.
