Random stuff bout Me, Chad, Shelby or anything else I feel like talking about

Thursday, March 13, 2008

How do you spend your dash??


As I mentioned in a post a few weeks back, I had a co-worker that passed away from terminal cancer. Well I went to her memorial this last Sunday. Oh, that was tough! There is something about music and photos that just makes me become a puddle of jello!!

Anyway, there was a poem read at her service called "The Dash Poem" by Linda Ellis. I have read/heard this poem before and every time I read/hear it it just makes me stop and think how life is so short and I need to learn to spend my "dash" wisely.

Here is the poem for those of you that have not read/heard it before:

I read of a man who stood to speak
At a 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 dates 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?

So I decided I will spend my dash enjoying my family, hanging out with my friends and making the most of everything. So you will have to excuse me if my house is not spotless and the dishes have not been done. You will have to step over the pile of clean clothes on my bedroom floor because I would rather spend my dash doing something else!

I love you all and thank you SO much for continuing to check out my blog! It means a lot!! Please mention that in my eulogy - that I spent my dash writing WONDERFUL & FUNNY blogs for you all to read!!;)

1 comment:

Nikki said...

Amen to that! I'm glad you are a part of my dash! And I'll be sure to mention that at your funeral, but you have to do the same for me if I go first.