Lasting Words

I have asked you all here today to honor the final requests of my dear friend and client, Doctor John M. Watkins. He asked me to share this letter with you which has also been duly notarized as being his final will and testament. Before I begin, I would like to again offer my deep condolences to you, Isabel, and your family. John was a great friend, not only to me, but to everyone who had the great pleasure of crossing his path. Having shared my piece, shall we begin?”

　
“ I am fully aware that if y’all are hearing this, I’ve passed on to meet my maker, The Great Physician. Though I am absent from you in body, I am with you in spirit for all eternity. I wish you not to cry or mourn over my passing, for I have merely gone home. I have never doubted that you love me dearly, and that that love is now being reflected in grief and sorrow, but know this; Life will go on and you will laugh again. In my many years working with patients, I’ve found that the human spirit is resilient and stronger than the worst pain, sorrow, or heartache.

Roy, you rascal, who would have ever thought that two rowdy boys like us would have ever become the sheriff and a doctor. Certainly not our parents! Remember the time we snuck out and went coon huntin’ all night? You thought that since you were older that you had all the answers but you sure didn’t have much to say when Pa caught us trying to sneak back in to the house early the next morning. It was a long time before Pa finally let us have our guns back ,but I must have learned my lesson. I never tried to sneak out again; I kept up with that gun all these years. I’m leaving you that gun and I pray that your kids are more responsible than we were at their age. But thank you for everything. For loving me even though I was a constant pest, for teaching me everything a big brother should, and for making our relationship one that has continued to grow and remains one of friendship.

And now Rosie, my precious daughter.. You are so young, you may never remember me, but know that your daddy loved you more than the world. I can remember the first time I held you in my arms, just a bundle of pink blankets like a new spring flower.  You were so little, way smaller than your brothers were, and I never forgot that face of yours when it looked up into mine with eyes that shined like the stars at night. I’ve never admitted this, but from the first time I saw you, you’ve had me wrapped around your little finger. With a flash of your beautiful smile, I’ve always cracked and forgotten what I told you not to do in the first place. I want to leave you my rocking chair in the hope that you will always remain as sweet and innocent as you are now. I want you to, even if you cant remember my face, think of me and what we would have had. Know that I stayed up countless nights rocking you to sleep, almost not wanting you to because that would ruin my excuse to hold you a few minutes longer. My wishes for your life is that you always love your family unconditionally, you remain happy and hopeful, and that you marry for love, not for money. To help you with this, I’ve also left you the cabin and the stretch of land at the base of the mountain.

To you, Jesse, for the last time ‘Slow down, boy!’ You’ve always been my little firecracker, finding (or most of the time, creating) excitement at every bend in the road and I’m constantly amazed by your ability to find happiness and laughter, even in the darkest of times. However, you may never fully understand how dearly I loved you for it no matter how many times I told you to calm down. I’d like you to have the opportunity to explore and experience this wonderful country firsthand, so I’ve left you a trust fund that will allow you to travel for a year after you’ve finished your schooling.

To my steady rock, Jedidiah, I leave you with my gratitude for watching over the family while I’ve traveled to see my patients. I value the times you went with me, and all our good talks we shared when we would make rounds. Always questioning, always learning, always striving to be better, I have always known that you would make a great doctor yourself one day. I know you feel that all your responsibility lies with continuing watching over your ma and the rest of the family now that I’m gone, but we want you to travel back east so you can attend a good medical school. There you will be able to fulfill your yearning and thirst for knowledge. If you ever wish to return here to practice medicine, my partner Dr. Connor will happily oversee my investments and turn them over to you when you’re ready.

And finally to my beloved wife for eternity, Bell, I leave my remaining worldly possessions. There is enough there to take care of you for the rest of your life. You will find a letter in my bible that I hope will bring you some comfort and happiness in the weeks and months that are to come; I’ve recorded some of my favorite memories of our friendship and love. I hate that I have left you with the burden of raising the rest of our family alone, but remember that you are surrounded by friends and family that love you and are always willing to help. You are by far the strongest and sweetest person I have ever known and since the moment we met I have awoken each morning both honored and humbled to be your husband. And for the love of pete, the next time Saddle thinks he’s cornered a coon and ends up getting sprayed by a skunk, please don’t scream and try to whack him with the broom again; just have the kids keep him out of the house for a while and pray that he gets a little less rambunctious as he grows up. Remember, the boys did vote him the best pup in the world.”

Compare/Contrast Folklore Essay

       I’ve always thought of most folklore being about the same, but it turns out they can be very different. Something that distinguishes one piece of folklore from the next is the culture that it comes from. There are a few very large differences in these cultural works, as well as some similarities. In the following paragraphs I will compare and contrast three folklore's that come from different cultures: “The Arkansas Traveler,” “The Bleeding Sink,” and “Eavesdropper.”
        The Arkansan piece of folklore, the “Arkansas Traveler,” takes place deep in the Ozark Mountains. The characters are a tired, hungry, lost traveler that’s looking for shelter and food and a old grumpy man that wont give the traveler any food or help until he realizes that the lost hungry man can play the fiddle.
       In the American work, “ Bleeding Sink,” a young man begins courageous and stubborn, until he finds a ghost in an old haunted upstairs bathroom of his college dormitory. He ends terrified and a believer of the old ghost story rumors.
       “Eavesdropper,” a classic Canadian folktale, happens on Christmas Eve and like in the Arkansan piece, has an old grumpy man as one of the main characters. Unlike the other pieces of folklore, this one is much more light-hearted and has talking animals as the other characters. This man also begins stubborn and ends a believer when he dies exactly when the cows said he would.        These three different works of cultural literature are different, and yet contain some of the same themes. It amazes me how folklore that comes from different places can have some of the same qualities, and yet be so different at the same time.