One Week

Narrator:
When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold on to them. They are the life boats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely illusive. So the question becomes, or should have been all a long... What would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What life boat would you grab on to? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfil? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? [Written on a black board: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."]

[first lines]

Narrator:
What would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live?

Doctor:
I'm afraid it's not great news. We've picked up cancerous cells in your blood, your liver, and your lymph nodes. We need to get you into treatment right away.

Ben Tyler:
How bad is it?

Doctor:
It's stage four.

Ben Tyler:
How many stages are there?

Doctor:
Four.

Biker:
I tell ya, it's a blink from diapers to Depends.

Narrator:
How different things might have been for Ben had his nose-picking and day-dreaming been able to continue. Had he believed praise when he heard it, and had he decided, against all hope, to send his manuscript to Harper Collins.

Gerald Tyler:
I'd like to make a toast.

Nancy Tyler:
Can you just send us an email?

Narrator:
Samantha was right. He was swimming in that famous river in Egypt.

Ben Tyler:
Are there any other things you think you compromised on?

Samantha Pierce:
Yes. That's part of being in a relationship.

Ben Tyler:
[to complete stranger] I'm sorry about your dog.

Fran:
You know, the thing is, Rudy slept in my bed longer than two husbands. Combined. [starts bawling uncontrollably]

Narrator:
Not saving for retirement has it's advantages.

Tracey:
[quoting Thomas Edison] Many of life's failures are people who do not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.