Remember that great earworm CUPS song (“When I’m Gone”) performed by Anna Kendrick in the movie Pitch Perfect?
.
.
Some co-workers and myself sang and performed a fun, modified version of the CUPS song as a retirement goodbye send-off to a pair of colleagues back in 2013.
“Cups” actually originated from a 1931 song “When I’m Gone” by the Carter Family (written by A.P. Carter)
The catchy hook of the song goes like this:
When I’m gone
When I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me by my hair
You’re gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
Now how about… actor Keanu Reeves being interviewed by Stephen Colbert in 2019.
The pair bantered back and forth until Colbert earnestly asked Reeves… “What do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?”
“I know that the ones who love us will miss us.”
Simple words and yet it shows us the power of subtlety.
In the last month our household has been hit with the news of 3 deaths of relatives…. so…

Each of these things I’m talking about above bring me around to my thought today…
Here’s a little secret I’ll share with you:
For sure, I fear dying… but even more, I fear dying without being able to say goodbye to my loved ones.
My Mom collapsed and died with acute suddenness on the driveway outside our home… there was no goodbye. This sticks with me like the shadow to my body.
It stresses me that my kids/grandkids might get that sudden, startling, late night phone call relaying my “unexpected” demise.
I’m holding out, holding on, for at least a short, cognitive, slice of time at my ending; a day or week when I can utter my final love words, and of course great last words of “Silly Larry” earthbound wisdom, to those who’ve: lived with me, put up with me, laughed and hugged and cried with me, worked and played with me, been bored with me… you know, the whole panoply of “with” stuff.
Yup, I know these are the things you should say to the ones you love every day, you’re right. Yup, so right.
But like the “beginning at birth” idea that boys don’t cry, sharing deep inner emotions and thoughts with others is very difficult… the words get stuck between my brain and my tongue.

And so, I’ll at least talk about this in verse and song.
Today I’ll share the verses with you, and hopefully someday soon, I’ll have a musical bed to lay the words over and roll them past you again.
IF I FORGET TO SAY GOODBYE
by Larry Green
Years and years from now
you’ll hear yourself say something strange
maybe wonder where the words came from
like when you find that long lost name
the glue peels away, the memory shines clear
the instant you feel me near
pre-CHORUS
skipping ropes, summer hikes
shooting hoops and riding bikes
CHORUS
If I forget to say goodbye
excuse my lapse and find a smile
I won’t melt away that fast
because I’ll always be inside you
No you can’t lose me oh so easily
even if I forget to say goodbye
……….
Last week when you were born
I was younger than you are now
it was certain life would go on forever
but life’s logic was a magic paint
whose door has felt the wind and sun
swinging closed and growing faint
pre-CHORUS
toboggan runs, Sunoka waves
ballet shoes and trebuchets
CHORUS
If I forget to say goodbye
excuse my lapse and find a smile
I won’t melt away that fast
because I’ll always be inside you
No you can’t lose me oh so easily
even if I forget to say goodbye
……….
I’ll set down my guitar
Draw in my last breath
and blow away like yellowed newsprint
we’ll share a blueprint etched forever
in the starry sky together
even if I forget to say goodbye
