I held Carl's Hand as he died and I looked at him and he smiled and I said, 'Goodbye, Carl.' And he said 'Goodbye, Ann.' And he closed his eyes and he died. We knew as we said those words we were never going to see one another again, and it was okay. It was very sad. But it was okay.
Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is.
My parents taught me that even though it's not forever - because it's not forever - being alive is a profoundly beautiful thing for which each of us should feel deeply grateful. If we lived forever it would not be so amazing.
We knew we were beneficiaries of chance .... That pure chance could be so generous and so kind.... That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time.... That we could be together.
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