| [00:41.362] |
Thomas |
| [00:42.454] |
|
| [00:43.000] |
We are gathered to honor the life of alvin kelby. He was my best friend. |
| [00:48.303] |
(he finds a pen and makes a correction.) |
| [00:49.074] |
|
| [00:51.238] |
My good friend. |
| [00:53.987] |
My oldest friend. |
| [00:55.790] |
My insert-adjective-later friend. |
| [00:57.570] |
(he tears the page from the book and tries again.) |
| [00:58.130] |
|
| [01:01.787] |
Hello. My name is thomas weaver. |
| [01:03.126] |
I'm a multi-award-winning, best-selling author and i have absolutely no idea what to write. |
| [01:08.460] |
|
| [01:09.618] |
Write what you know, tom. |
| [01:12.992] |
|
| [01:15.032] |
Write what you know. |
| [01:17.464] |
(thomas writes.) |
| [01:17.924] |
|
| [01:22.187] |
We met in first grade. |
| [01:28.340] |
We were friends for years. |
| [01:35.058] |
Good friends. |
| [01:38.624] |
Inseparable. |
| [01:40.072] |
(he stops writing.) |
| [01:40.499] |
|
| [01:41.228] |
That much i know. |
| [01:44.235] |
That much i know. |
| [01:46.845] |
|
| [01:48.377] |
Write what you know, tom. |
| [01:51.564] |
Write what you know. |
| [01:53.774] |
(he resumes writing.) |
| [01:54.136] |
|
| [01:56.104] |
He was a smart kid. |
| [02:02.179] |
He was sort of odd. |
| [02:04.588] |
No. Interesting. |
| [02:05.992] |
No. Odd. |
| [02:08.414] |
|
| [02:09.259] |
He worked in his father?s bookstore. |
| [02:12.454] |
His father got sick. |
| [02:13.676] |
(he stops.) |
| [02:14.115] |
|
| [02:15.034] |
That much i know. |
| [02:17.985] |
That much i know. |
| [02:21.642] |
|
| [02:22.534] |
But that's not the story. |
| [02:25.791] |
This is just fact. |
| [02:28.539] |
What was the crisis that went undetected? |
| [02:31.111] |
When was the instant it splintered and cracked? |
| [02:33.891] |
What was the moment? |
| [02:36.146] |
I missed it somehow |
| [02:39.769] |
And if i could narrow it down to a moment, |
| [02:42.673] |
What good is knowing that now? |
| [02:45.702] |
What was my responsibility? |
| [02:48.717] |
What did i owe? |
| [02:50.641] |
Am i to blame |
| [02:51.849] |
For all of the details i?ll never know? |
| [02:57.835] |
But how could i know? |
| [03:00.760] |
Write what you know, tom. |
| [03:02.930] |
(he makes another attempt to write.) |
| [03:03.253] |
|
| [03:04.183] |
I went to college |
| [03:10.493] |
Alvin stayed behind. |
| [03:17.332] |
His father passed away. |
| [03:20.559] |
I left him here alone. |
| [03:22.773] |
(he stops.) |
| [03:23.187] |
|
| [03:26.816] |
That much i know. |
| [03:29.975] |
That much i know. |
| [03:33.172] |
Some lives hurtle forward |
| [03:36.185] |
And some never budge |
| [03:39.047] |
And sometimes a life takes a different direction |
| [03:41.864] |
With an innocuous innocent nudge. |
| [03:44.503] |
Did i do the nudging |
| [03:47.320] |
When his life careened? |
| [03:50.236] |
Now how do i bounce through a lifetime |
| [03:52.260] |
To pinpoint when i should have intervened? |
| [03:55.007] |
Where is that story? |
| [03:57.858] |
What should i say? |
| [04:00.674] |
I've gotta do this right, alvin. |
| [04:03.347] |
I've gotta find the piece of the puzzle |
| [04:05.940] |
That brought me here today. |
| [04:12.915] |
(as thomas violently tears the page from his notebook, |
| [04:13.277] |
The funeral chapel fades and thomas finds himself deep inside |
| [04:13.600] |
His own mind surrounded by endless shelves cluttered |
| [04:14.455] |
With papers and books - a lifetime's accumulation of memories and stories. |
| [04:14.911] |
Seated among them is alvin kelby.) |
| [04:15.275] |
|
| [04:18.375] |
What is the moment? |
| [04:21.280] |
What is the story? |
| [04:24.466] |
Use your own words tom. |
| [04:27.584] |
Write what you know. |
| [04:32.999] |
|
| [04:33.478] |
Alvin |
| [04:33.734] |
There's gotta be thousands of stories in this head of yours, tom. |
| [04:36.056] |
Thomas |
| [04:36.330] |
Don't bother me, alvin. I'm writing. |
| [04:37.859] |
(alvin looks at thomas?s empty notebook.) |
| [04:38.400] |
Alvin |
| [04:38.641] |
No you're not. There's nothing there. |
| [04:39.727] |
Thomas |
| [04:39.946] |
Writing's a process. Words are just the final step. Now be quiet. I can do this on my own. |
| [04:45.031] |
Alvin |
| [04:45.274] |
Really? And when was the last time you actually wrote something, tom? |
| [04:50.024] |
(this touches a nerve. Alvin starts to collect up loose pages.) |
| [04:50.830] |
So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to pick a story and you're going to write it down. |
| [04:56.569] |
Then we'll pick another... And another... And another. You get the idea? |
| [05:02.656] |
That's all a eulogy is, tom. You tell a bunch of stories, save the tear-jerker for the end and... |
| [05:07.524] |
(alvin places a large stack of pages in front of thomas.) |
| [05:07.885] |
... There you have it. My eulogy. The story of my life. |
| [05:14.041] |
Written by best-selling author thomas weaver. |
| [05:16.805] |
Thomas |
| [05:17.429] |
You make it sound so easy. |
| [05:19.025] |
Alvin |
| [05:19.635] |
Isn't it? Here's a thought. Why don't you begin with this one? |