The Dash

Bryon and I are at the stage in our lives where our grandparents are getting old and passing away.  Both of my grandpas have passed on and my grandma Alice passed away last year.  Bryon has two grandma's left but all of his grandpas have also passed on.  

Several of my friends have recently had grandparents pass on and it has brought on the realization lately that we are about to see the generation of great men and women from the WWII era completely gone .  There are very few veterans left from World War II.  The days of nurses wearing white caps and dresses and  hearing Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters and Jimmy Dorsey on the radio are about to become memories written down in history books.  The time when men were gentlemen and women were ladies, when people knew their neighbors, when women stayed at home with their children and and men went to work (ohhh, yes I did say that!).  

Now I'm not saying, everything in this generation was perfect or necessarily the way to go for everyone.  I'm sure many people during that time would have loved to live today where women are liberated and minorities are treated as human beings.  To think there was actually a time when black people couldn't drink out of the same water fountain as white people?!! Wow!!

I do wish our generation did a little more sippin' lemonade on our porches with our family and kids than checking facebook status's.. and that our goals in life were more along the lines of a good mom/dad/wife/husband than making a lot of money and living in a big house with an expensive car.  

Anyways,  I came across a poem lately when a friend of mine lost a loved one and I was praying for her and how to be an encouragement to her.  I think it is a lovely poem and it really speaks about the truths in life.  Hope you enjoy it too!

THE DASH

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 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’s being read
with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent your dash?

By: Linda Ellis