if it wasn't for hurricanes we wouldn't have a hurricane season.
1928 they stacked people like firewood to close a hole in a levee.
it all runs together.  like a fingerpainting.  i feel like i'm on a boat, drifting.
hmmm. there is nothing to do, caroline. this is what it is.  i'm finding it harder to keep my eyes open.  my mouth all filled with cotton.
curious. what comes next.
they built that train station in 1918. your father was there the day it opened.  he said a tuba band was playing. oom-pah-pah.
oom-pah-pah, oom-pah-pah. the finest clockmaker in all of the south built that clock.
mr. gateau, done for the night, went up to his bed.
he just rowed. rowed. away.
oh honey, you could never disappoint me.
what's normal? a hat full of sand.
i need my brown suitcase.  the envelope.
i tried to read it a hundred different times.  but i couldn't bring myself.
read it to me.
just the sound of your voice.
you have such a lovely voice.
that clock.  just kept going, year after year after year.
was there just company?
caroline.
did you know turkeys aren't really birds?
they're in the pheasant family. they can hardly fly. it's sad don't you think? a bird, that can't fly.
she's going to have a baby, silly. that's what my mother said when i was going to have a little brother. he didn't live long though. he didn't breathe right.
are you sleeping?
come on.
under here.
nobody knows about this but us.
will you light it?
don't be chicken.
i'll tell you a secret then you tell me one.  i saw mommy kissing another man. her face was red from it.
your turn to tell.
you don't seem like an old person.  like my grandma.  are you sick?
you are different than anybody i have ever met. can i?
go on.
oh, darlin', the pain.
i can do anything you can do.
what's wrong with him?
imagine all the places they're going to see.
i wish we could go with them.
i wish we could have.
look at that.  time just seeped out of me.
somebody will come and mop it up and that will be the end.
benjamin.  benjamin.
where are you going?
from everywhere. write me a postcard from everywhere.
there's a box of them.  in a velvet bag.
looking for?
of course.
can you imagine.  he sent me postcards from everywhere he went.  every place he worked.  newfoundland.  baffin bay.  liverpool.  glasgow. narvik.
please keep reading, sugar.
i wrote him constantly.  told him everything i was doing.
oh. then he wrote me.  "i've met somebody.  and i've fallen in love"
". i've met somebody. and i've fallen in love" my, that was over.  . sixty years ago.
what can a girl know about love?
it must have been very cold. i'm glad he had somebody to keep him warm.
oh, excuse me.  is queenie here?
benjamin. oh my god it's you.  of course it's you.
benjamin, how are you? it's been such a long time.  there's so much i want to know.  when did you come back?
i spoke to queenie. she told me you were in the war. somewhere at sea.  i was so worried about you.
you stopped writing.
beautiful.
what else did he say about.
i can't get over you're home.  i've been planning to come by for awhile.  my grandmother, you remember grandma fuller.  of course you remember her.  she passed away.
i've been wanting to get some of her things.
i can't believe i open the door, and you're actually standing there. it must be fate.  what do they call it, "kismet"? i read a book about a man named edgar cayce, a psychic, everything is predetermined. i like to think it's fate. what do you think, benjamin?
have you been to new york? it's just across the bridge from me.  i can actually see the empire state building if i stand on my bed.  where have you been? tell me everything. the last time you wrote you said you were in russia? i always wanted to go to russia.  is it as cold as they say? you wrote you met somebody.  did it work out?
this is the picture of old man kangaroo at five in the afternoon"
you don't look like an old man anymore. you always said you were different.  i think you must be.
i would love that.
they understand america's vigor and physicality -- they understand the freshness of the american people at their most modern, at their best.
oh my god, i've been just talking about myself.
i'm old enough. i`m old enough for a lot of things.
i have to go back tomorrow.  i wish i could stay.
in new york we stay up all night.  i eat breakfast in a diner on houston with red booths and watch the sun come up over the buildings.  there's always something to do.
dancers.  don't need costumes or scenery.
i could imagine dancing completely naked.
have you read "d.h. lawrence," his books were banned.  the words are like making love.
in our group.  you have to trust people.  not be afraid.  sex.  is a big part of it.  a lot of the dancers.  are lesbians.  a woman wanted me to sleep with her.
does that upset you?
that someone wanted to sleep with me.
let's go back to the house.  or get a room somewhere.  we can put down your coat.
i'm old enough.
do you think you are too old for me.  i've been with older men.
you look so handsome in that suit.  your hair.
good news?
i'll just stay under the blankets with my mother. she said nothing would happen to me.
benjamin?
somebody's looking for me?.
benjamin.  what are you doing here?
i wish you would have called.  you caught me by surprise.
that's so nice of you to say.  these are lovely.  thank you.
i better get changed.  a group of us are going to a party.  would you like to come?
all the dancers go out together after the show.  you're welcome to come with us.  there'll be all sorts of interesting people.  let me get changed.
i'll get you a drink.
this is my friend david.  david dances with our company too.  this is the man i've told you about, benjamin.
i'll get you that drink. - -
i knew i'd hurt you.  maybe i intended to.
i did what you told me to.  enjoy my life.  i'm only going to be young once.  i had no idea you were coming. what did you think i was going to do? you can't expect me to just drop everything, benjamin.  this is my life.
why don't you come with us, benjamin.  there'll be a lot of musicians, interesting people there.  you'll have a good time.
i think so. i think i do.
he came to tell me his father had died.
i was 23. i just didn't care.
there are some photographs i think.  the zipper part of the large bag.
i was as good as i was ever going to be. for five years.  i danced everywhere.  london, prague, vienna, and i was the only american invited to dance with the bolshoi.  it was glorious.
but benjamin was never far from my thoughts.
goodnight, benjamin.
what did he say?
who told you?
that was very kind of you.  to come all the way here, to see that i was alright.
my god, look at you. you're perfect.
i wish you hadn't. i wish you hadn't come here.
i don't want you to see me like this.
what home? who's we? i'm not going back to new orleans. new orleans is your home.  i don't have a home.  i haven't been home for five years.  i'm not going anywhere with you.
benjamin! i know i'm feeling sorry for myself.  but it wasn't supposed to be like this.
do you understand, i don't want to be with you.  i tried to tell you that in new york.  you just don't listen.
we're not little children playing under the table.  remember, when you came to new york. you didn't belong there. i didn't want to be with you then, i don't want to be with you now! i want you to leave! i'm not going anywhere with you! i want you to stay out of my life!
i was awfully cruel. he didn't understand. i couldn't have him see me that way.
no?
i never knew that.
every morning monsieur foley leaves eggs and bread and mil,. there's a cafe across the street. people sitting and drinking and talking.  i lay on my bed thinking about the rest of my life.  about people.  about home.  until i fall asleep.
a man would go up and clean it. try and fix what was broken.
don't you want to know where i've been?
it was what i needed to do for myself.
she's still taking care of you.
you're not talking. you haven't said more than two words to me.
sleep with me.
yes.
are you sure you don't want to know?.
i lived in lyon.
i learned to walk again
i worked in a flower shop.
i went to american movies a lot.
you won't hurt me.
we wouldn't have this.  we wouldn't be here.  it happened when it was supposed to happen.
don't say that.
that's easy for you to say.  you'll have plenty of chances.
i'm going to enjoy every moment i have with you.
bet i can stay out here longer than you can.
you barely have a line, a crease, or a wrinkle.  everyday i have more wrinkles you have less.
what does it feel like growing younger?
will you still love me when i can't stand straight.  when my skin grows old and spotted.
will you still love me when my step gets slow.  when i sleep too much.  when you have to push me in a chair.
maybe some things last.
maybe it's something you can't see.
i'm cold, benjamin.
goodnight, benjamin.
caroline?
dear robert.  some time after that.
he knew enough. he loved me as i was. i loved him for who he was. what more was needed?
is anything wrong?
go back to sleep.
i loved that house.  it smelled like firewood.  the chimney leaked smoke.  we didn't care.  oh don't stop dear.  don't stop.
it's just the chlorine.
i don't like getting old.
i promise you, i'll never lose myself to self-pity again.
i don't remember if i turned the lights off. did i leave the heater on?
you have the most beautiful eyes.
peace.
dancing is all about the line.  the line of your body. after awhile.  you lose the line.  and you can never get it back.
i figured out if you were born in 1918.  49 years ago.  i'm 43.  we're almost the same age.  in three years we'll meet in the middle.
i thought i was far too old.  i'm pregnant.
the child.
i want to breathe on my own.  please.  sit down, my darling.
i'm pregnant.
hmmm.
i thought i heard the nurse slip, and say "he"
i know you're afraid.
okay. what's your worst fear?
then we'll love it all the more.
i'm going to make this work.  this is what i want, and i want it with you.
would you tell a blind man he can't have children? you will be a father for as long as you can. i know the consequences. i accepted that. your love, loving you, is worth everything to me. for the fiftieth time today i've got to go pee.
ready?
benjamin.
benjamin.  the baby's coming.
it doesn't change for a moment who you are. you were a gift. sometimes the gifts we are given are not free.
my dearest darling, we were both deprived of him.
i was worried you weren't coming back.
read the rest of it, darling.
what are you talking about?
she'll learn to accept whatever happens.  she loves you.
is it that my age is starting to show? is that what you are telling me? have you lost your desire for me?
you're going to leave me, aren't you?
you can't leave me.
you can't do this to me!
i remember your first birthday like it was yesterday.
i don't know. i never heard from him.
he'd been gone for a long time.
somebody left their slipper.
are you here to pick someone up?
i'm sorry, we're closed now.
benjamin?
you're so young.
why did you come back?
no.  he was telling me a very sad story about a mutual friend we hadn't seen in a long time.  this is my friend, benjamin.  you knew him when you were.  just a baby.
this is a friend of my family's.  benjamin button.  this is my husband.  robert.
i'm just closing up.
not very well.
my husband. he's a doctor.  was a widower.  he's an incredibly bright, adventurous man.
he's been a terrific father.  and a great partner and friend.
you're so much younger.
you ware right. she needed a father. i couldn't have raised both of you. i'm not that strong.
i never thought how it must have broken your heart, too.
where are you staying? what are you going to do?
i have to go.
please tell me what he says?
may i come in?
nothing lasts.
i'm an old woman now, benjamin.
benjamin.
are you sure?
please read.
a year or so after your father passed.  there was a call.
hello?.  yes?.  speaking -- i don't understand? where was that?
it's the last house.
i'm daisy.
benjamin.
you play really beautifully.
do you remember me? i'm daisy.
it's good to meet you benjamin. do you mind if i sit with you? i would love to hear you play.
queenie's daughter saw to it that he was taken care of.
let's see if we can find something else for you to do.
i know you can't.
what do you mean?
it's alright.  it's alright to forget things.
i wish you'd come down.
you're right, you can see everything sweetheart.
i think you better come down.
i knew a man who could fly. come down and i'll tell you all about him.
and i went to take care of him.
how would you like to help me unpack?
this is the picture of old man kangaroo at five in the afternoon, when he got his beautiful hind legs just as big god ngong had promised.
that's right.  benjamin and daisy.
in the spring of 2003.
now you do.
Goodnight, Benjamin.
	172:
i swam for 32 hours.  i was only two miles from the french shore.
when it started to rain.
when i couldn't go any further, and i just stopped.