Making your dash count

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on the tombstone

From the beginning...to the end

He noted that first came the date of 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 they spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved them

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 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?

-- The Dash Poem (by Linda Ellis)

How many of us have gone to the cemetery and stopped to think about the dash on the gravestone? I would be willing to bet (a small amount) on none of us. We all focus on the date of birth, and the date of death. Almost automatically, we will do the math in our head and figure out how long said individual lived. We will read the inscription. Look at the artwork, if there is any, on the gravestone. But what is the most important thing on that gravestone? It is the little straight line between the date of birth and death. The dash.

Close your eyes. Run your fingers over that tiny engraving of the dash. Clear your mind. Can you feel the life lived by the deceased in that little etched out granite? Can you see the images of their life zooming through your mind? Can you hear the laughter, see the smiles, feel the joy? It is all there in that little straight line.

It is amazing to think such a small line can encapsulate so much. It is what we do with that line that makes it significant. The date of birth and the date of death gather all the attention, but the story lies in the hyphen. The dates are all different and that draws our attention. The dashes are all the same, and that is boring.

But it is just the opposite. We are all born. We all die. It is the story behind the dash that is different for everyone. The dash holds so many stories, so many memories. That is where all the good stuff lies.

Run your fingers over that dash again. Hold your fingers there for a minute. That is where all the energy of their lives lie. Can you feel it? Let it speak to you.

We all need to strive to make our dashes as powerful as it can be. Make your dash speak loudly to that person who touches your gravestone in the future.