A monologue from the screenplay by Robert Harling
M’Lynn
(talking, through tears, about the last minutes with Shelby) I stayed there. I kept on pushing…just like I always have where Shelby was concerned…
hoping she‟d sit up and argue with me. But finally we all realized there was no hope. At that point I panicked.
I was afraid that I wouldn’t survive the next few minutes while they turned off the machines. Drum couldn‟t take it.
He left. Jackson couldn’t take it. He left. It struck me as amusing. Men are supposed to be made of steel or something.
But I couldn’t leave. I just sat there holding Shelby‟s hand while the sounds got softer and the beeps got farther apart until all was quiet.
There was no noise, no tremble. Just peace. I realized as a woman how lucky I was.
I was there when this wonderful person drifted into this world, and I was there when she drifted out.
It was the most precious moment of my life so far.
