How are you living your DASH....................

I have never been afraid of dying. Even after this last year with all we have been through, death still doesn't scare me but after hearing this poem in my small group Monday night it has really rocked me into reconsidering death. Ok not death but how I live my life and what my eulogy will sound like when I die. I had a really hard time putting something together for my dads funeral. I mean what good can you say when some one has committed suicide. But someone, I am not sure who, said this to me, "Deidra you can't let the suicide define who your dad was." That was deep. I am still working that out in my head and my heart but it gets better everyday. So my point to all this is that we have to come up with three "dash" statements that we want read at our eulogy.

I am wondering what my dashes are? How is my life defined? Am I living a significant enough of a life that when I am gone I will leave a legacy that my family and son will be proud of? Or am I just going through the motions of life like the rest of the world. I know this sounds morbid with all the talk of dying but we only get one chance (isn't that a song). But seriously we really do only have this time between when we are born and when we die to make a difference. So my challenge is what is your dash gonna stand for. I will let you know when I figure mine out I am still working on it.




The Dash
by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

© 1996 Linda Ellis