WEBVTT
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When Peter and David were kids, they would do everything together.
2
00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:07.219
The park, the arcades, the girls, the beach. A small
3
00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:10.419
seaside town has little to offer outside the tourist season.
4
00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.560
And so the two friends grew up inseparable, and they
5
00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:18.739
were in their twenties when David died. It had been
6
00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:21.699
an ordinary day, but it was to become one etched
7
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.769
in Peter's mind for the rest of his life. It
8
00:00:24.809 --> 00:00:27.989
had been sudden. After a quiet night in, David had
9
00:00:28.030 --> 00:00:30.879
apparently gone to bed, telling his mother, He was tired
10
00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.259
and needed a good bit of kip for the next day.
11
00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:38.420
That morning his mother found something no parent should ever find.
12
00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:43.299
While sleeping David had suffered a massive stroke, rare for
13
00:00:43.329 --> 00:00:47.009
somebody so young, but not unheard of. It was of
14
00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:48.969
no comfort to those who loved him that he would
15
00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:54.770
have known nothing about it. Peter was inconsolable. Between receiving
16
00:00:54.789 --> 00:00:56.990
the news and the funeral he'd seen almost no one.
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00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:00.179
It was like losing a brother. His grief was private,
18
00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.700
huge and all-encompassing. He had been invited to the wake,
19
00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:08.409
a celebration of David's life, but he couldn't face it.
20
00:01:09.290 --> 00:01:11.849
The jubilation of a life well led, coupled with the
21
00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:15.230
underlying sadness that a life should be over so suddenly,
22
00:01:15.370 --> 00:01:20.170
young and so brutally, it was too much. He sat
23
00:01:20.209 --> 00:01:23.219
on the bed and loosened his tie. He looked up
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00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:25.040
at the ceiling and said, I wish you were here, mate.
25
00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:28.439
And all of a sudden... Next to him, he felt
26
00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:31.760
the bed dip as if somebody was sitting down, and
27
00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:35.000
he turned his head to see David. He was as
28
00:01:35.099 --> 00:01:39.920
solid as you or I or the bedside cabinet. I'm okay,
29
00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:44.000
he said, and you will be too. The two had
30
00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.540
a discussion, Peter hardly believing he was talking to his
31
00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:51.879
friend who was currently being cremated. He was real, said Peter. Finally,
32
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.200
Peter gave in to his curiosity and asked him the
33
00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:58.010
one question which everyone would like to ask. What is
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00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:02.870
it like to die? He replied, said Peter, but I
35
00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:05.980
don't know or can't remember what he said. For the
36
00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:08.280
next thing Peter knew was that he was waking up
37
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.439
the next morning. He would have suspected it was all
38
00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:13.659
a dream, but he was still in his suit. He
39
00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:17.530
still had his shoes on. It wasn't a dream, he said.
40
00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:19.949
David came back to me to tell me to stop
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00:02:20.050 --> 00:02:22.870
suffering and live my own life. He was that sort
42
00:02:22.909 --> 00:02:26.430
of friend, the best I ever had. He saw I
43
00:02:26.490 --> 00:02:29.490
was suffering. and he put me out of my misery.
1
00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.819
When Peter and David were kids, they would do everything together.
2
00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:07.219
The park, the arcades, the girls, the beach. A small
3
00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:10.419
seaside town has little to offer outside the tourist season.
4
00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.560
And so the two friends grew up inseparable, and they
5
00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:18.739
were in their twenties when David died. It had been
6
00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:21.699
an ordinary day, but it was to become one etched
7
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.769
in Peter's mind for the rest of his life. It
8
00:00:24.809 --> 00:00:27.989
had been sudden. After a quiet night in, David had
9
00:00:28.030 --> 00:00:30.879
apparently gone to bed, telling his mother, He was tired
10
00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.259
and needed a good bit of kip for the next day.
11
00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:38.420
That morning his mother found something no parent should ever find.
12
00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:43.299
While sleeping David had suffered a massive stroke, rare for
13
00:00:43.329 --> 00:00:47.009
somebody so young, but not unheard of. It was of
14
00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:48.969
no comfort to those who loved him that he would
15
00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:54.770
have known nothing about it. Peter was inconsolable. Between receiving
16
00:00:54.789 --> 00:00:56.990
the news and the funeral he'd seen almost no one.
17
00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:00.179
It was like losing a brother. His grief was private,
18
00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.700
huge and all-encompassing. He had been invited to the wake,
19
00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:08.409
a celebration of David's life, but he couldn't face it.
20
00:01:09.290 --> 00:01:11.849
The jubilation of a life well led, coupled with the
21
00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:15.230
underlying sadness that a life should be over so suddenly,
22
00:01:15.370 --> 00:01:20.170
young and so brutally, it was too much. He sat
23
00:01:20.209 --> 00:01:23.219
on the bed and loosened his tie. He looked up
24
00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:25.040
at the ceiling and said, I wish you were here, mate.
25
00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:28.439
And all of a sudden... Next to him, he felt
26
00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:31.760
the bed dip as if somebody was sitting down, and
27
00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:35.000
he turned his head to see David. He was as
28
00:01:35.099 --> 00:01:39.920
solid as you or I or the bedside cabinet. I'm okay,
29
00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:44.000
he said, and you will be too. The two had
30
00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.540
a discussion, Peter hardly believing he was talking to his
31
00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:51.879
friend who was currently being cremated. He was real, said Peter. Finally,
32
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.200
Peter gave in to his curiosity and asked him the
33
00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:58.010
one question which everyone would like to ask. What is
34
00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:02.870
it like to die? He replied, said Peter, but I
35
00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:05.980
don't know or can't remember what he said. For the
36
00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:08.280
next thing Peter knew was that he was waking up
37
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.439
the next morning. He would have suspected it was all
38
00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:13.659
a dream, but he was still in his suit. He
39
00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:17.530
still had his shoes on. It wasn't a dream, he said.
40
00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:19.949
David came back to me to tell me to stop
41
00:02:20.050 --> 00:02:22.870
suffering and live my own life. He was that sort
42
00:02:22.909 --> 00:02:26.430
of friend, the best I ever had. He saw I
43
00:02:26.490 --> 00:02:29.490
was suffering. and he put me out of my misery.
