THE LEGACY

"At a certain moment in time a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function
and that, for all intents and purposes,
my life has stopped.
When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my "deathbed."
Call it my "Bed of Life" and let my body
be taken from it to help others
lead fuller lives.
Give my sight to a man who has never seen
a sunrise, a baby's face,
or love in the eyes of a woman.
Give my heart to a person whose own heart
has caused nothing but endless days of pain.
Give my blood to the teenager who has been pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.
Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.
Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way
to make a crippled child walk.
Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat
and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain
against her window.
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes
to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults,
my weaknesses,and all prejudice
against my fellow man.
Give my soul to God.
If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.
If you do all I have asked,
I will live forever."

~unknown

~"My Heart Will Go On"~

from "Titanic"