Episode 8 - Before I Go (for Tookie)

I Wrote this Song for You

My Aunt Tookie has always been the black sheep of the family. Sharp as a tack, comically irreverent toward convention, and unafraid to speak her mind, she has forged her own unique path in life. She's recently been moved into hospice care, but before she dies she has one very unusual wish...

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Patreon Gold (Passionate): Paula Atwood, Royce and Rosalie Blowe, Moira Danis, Kristin Dimento, Thomasina LaGuardia, Molly Perkinson, Elizabeth Rice, Linda Wells, Sharon Wyse, William Zybach. Patreon Silver (Inspired): Ariela Bonucci, Tanara Bowie, Alison Deadman, Mark Goodwin, Hayes Hanley, Karen Hanley, Joseph Lee, Linda DiPaolo Love, Stephanie Mastri, Randall Pharr, Sallie Thalhimer, Robert Williamson.

Before I Go is written and performed by Wells Hanley on piano and vocals. Mixed and mastered by Curtis Fye. ©2022

Before I Go Music and Lyrics by Wells Hanley ©2022

Someone once said

Don’t waste your time on the dead

There are things you can’t control

Just don’t let them weigh on your soul

It’s while we’re here, we can let it show

Say what we need to say before they go

Before I go,

What I want you to know

is that as awful as it may seem

there’s no need to cry and scream

Just take a chill - give up your straining

It could be worse, it could be raining

Better off, do something for someone still around

Lighten someone’s load, wouldn’t that be cool?

Help them to approach the unknown, the frightening and mysterious

with a joke or a laugh - it doesn’t have to be so serious.

So before I’m dead

Please get it into your head

that the sky is not falling down

and the king has got no clothes

And while there are those who'll try explaining,

it’s best to see it all as entertaining

So shed your worry, it was only draining

It could be worse, it could be raining

Before I go, I hope you’ll know that dying’s not so bad

Everyone must go - one day, even you

And while we hope for heaven and fret about hell, which is just such a pile,

you know the measure of a life well lived is if you made somebody smile.

The hellfire and damnation, it’s such an awful crock you know

I may never have been “saved”, but think of what I’ve saved:

At the cut rate crematorium for just 800 bucks

I’ll be relieved of all but seven pounds and I’ll remain with zero…

fear and regret

Before I go

What I want you to know

is that I love you in a place

where there’s no time or space

And I don’t know how, but I think it’s true

that when I’m there, I’m everywhere too

Which means that I’ll be here with you…

So don’t be sad, don’t start complaining

It could be worse, it could be raining

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Thank you to family and friends for your support in the long journey that created this podcast. Your hearts are woven into every episode.

A special thanks to Jude Treder-Wolff for introducing me to the NYC storytelling community and for our many adventures together pairing story and song.

A very special thanks to Courtney Page Ferrell for bolstering my confidence before I believed in this idea, for realizing "it's a podcast!", and for continuing to cheer me on tirelessly.

The deepest and most cathartic thank you to Elizabeth Smartt for partnering with me to birth this creative vision. For spending countless hours sculpting my idea into something clear and concise down to the logo, website, and even the format of each episode. You are a godsend of a creative collaborator and I am eternally grateful to you for bringing this podcast into the world with me.