CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/17/2016

Sophie Calle: True Stories, Obituary

"Monique wanted to see the sea one last time. On Tuesday, January 31, we went to Cabourg. The last journey. The next day, 'so my feet look nice when I go:' the last pedicure. She read Ravel by Jean Echenoz. The last book. A man she had long admired but never met came to her bedside. Making a friend for the last time. She organized the funeral ceremony: her last party. Final preparations: she chose her funeral dress—navy blue with a white pattern—a photograph showing her making a face for the tombstone, and her epitaph: I’m getting bored already! She wrote a last poem, for her burial. She chose Montparnasse cemetery as her final address. She didn’t want to die. She said this was the first time in her life she didn’t mind waiting. She shed her last tears. The days before her death, she kept repeating: 'It’s odd. It’s so stupid.' She listened to the Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622. For the last time. Her last wish: to leave with the music of Mozart in her ears. Her last request: for us not to worry. 'Ne vous faites pas de souci.' Souci was her last word. On March 15, 2006, at 3:00 p.m., the last smile. The last breath, somewhere between 3:02 and 3:13. Impossible to capture. - Sophie Calle, "Obituary," True Stories, fifth edition.