What's wrong with silence?

You know what I miss?

Springtime on campus, huh?

That was always the best time.

Yeah, for you professors maybe.

For us lowly students, spring meant one thing.

Cramming for finals.

Oh, yeah.

A beautiful day like this and we made you spend it buried in a book.

Yeah.

Throw down your books.

You have nothing to lose but your grades.

Coach, you ever wish you were young again?

Yeah, I've been young.

I know how miserable it can be being young.

Don't push me down there, huh?

Aging isn't just decay, you know, it's growth.

So how come nobody ever says, gee, I wish I were old?

Because this culture worships youth.

Me, I do not buy it.

I've had my time to be 22.

This is my time to be 78.

So you were never afraid of getting old?

Oh, the fear of aging.

You know what that reflects, Mitch?

Lives that haven't found meaning.

The light changed.

Oh.

Hey, stop here.

This is where I used to dance.

Dance free?

Yeah.

No wonder they went out of business.

Well, but not that kind of free, Mitch.

Oh.

I used to think if I couldn't dance, I couldn't live.

Sometimes I see myself dancing and I think, wow, boy, I don't have ALS after all.

It's a big mistake.

It's all part of a lovely fantasy.

But just for a minute.

Fantasy is useful.

You can learn from it.

But this, this is what's real.

I accept it.

But is it really that easy?

I mean, don't you ever feel sorry for yourself?

Oh, good call.

You bet.

Usually in the morning, you know, before everybody gets up, I get so angry, so bitter.

I just, what the hell did I ever do to deserve this?

Where's the fairness?

What?

I cry and I rage.

I mourn.

And then I detach.

It's over.

That's it.

All over.

Come on.

I just look back on how I've been feeling and I say, well, that's self-pity and that's enough of that for today.

Just like that?

You stop?

Yeah.

That's all the time I give it.

Start thinking about the day ahead, you know?

The people that are going to come to see me, the stories that I'm going to hear and all the stuff I'm going to learn.

Like from you, Mitch.

From me?

There's a place that I've got to go now, Mitch.

I hope you can handle it.

Yeah, I think the chocolate offer's the best of all, but they don't carry it.

How you doing, Maury?

You ready for a good beating?

Hey.

You ready for a beating?

Yeah.

You ought to get a zipper.

I know.

I'm going to have to learn how to sew.

Oh, hey, Mrs. Schwartz.

Oh, please.

Call me Charlotte, Mitch.

Did he ever stop talking?

No.

I was afraid I was going to tire him out.

Oh, he never gets tired if he's got friends to talk to.

I'm so glad you came back.

You were one of his favorites.

You going back to work?

Just for a couple of hours.

I hope you'll come again.

Charlotte, wasn't that a great funeral today, huh?

What a treat.

How does he do it?

How does he stay so cheerful all the time?

Well, sometimes the nights are difficult for him.

They really are.

Charlotte.

Come in, dear.

Come in.

Every time Aldo works me over, I feel like he's giving me an extra couple of days, you know?

You like massage?

Uh, not really, no.

No?

Oh, boy, I revel in it.

You know, it's funny.

Some people just don't like to be touched.

I always found that rather odd.

When we're babies, we live to be touched.

To be held, cuddled by your mother, comforted.

We never seem to get enough of that.

We need it so badly.

Hey, I...

Hey, uh...

You okay?

Yeah, I cry a lot.

Maybe you noticed.

Do you cry much?

All of this makes you uncomfortable, doesn't it?

The crying and touching.

I see you look away.

I guess I'm just not really a touchy-feely guy.

Yeah, it scares you.

It doesn't scare me.

Yes, it scares you.

All this does.

Everything we're talking about.

Death, dying.

There is a reason why people don't talk about these things.

To spare people's feelings.

To spare people's feelings.

I never have understood that.

How can you spare someone's feelings by denying them?

What, you got a plane?

No.

You're not the only one who has to use the commode sometimes, you know?

Oh.

Hmm.

Days like this, you used to hold classes outside.

Yeah, today is Tuesday.

Tuesdays, I used to hold office hours.

Oh, right, tutorials.

When you'd rip apart my papers.

And we'd talk.

And we'd talk.

You were the first grown-up who ever talked to me who wasn't a relative.

And we're still talking.

Only maybe you think what I'm talking about doesn't apply to you.

You know who I forgot to ask you about?

Your girlfriend with the beautiful name.

Janine. Am I ever going to meet her?

Oh, I don't know, coach.

You don't know, coach.

Maybe.

Maybe.

You still don't know how to say goodbye, do you?

Still.

Come here, I'll show you.

Oh, Mitch.

I'm going to get to you one of these days, boy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bye-bye.

What, did you forget something?

When can I come back?

Office hours are Tuesdays.

We're Tuesday people, Mitch.

We'll be right back.