It's January 1! A new year! I have determined that this will be the finest year yet! Many great things lay ahead in this year, including but not limited to Killian becoming more vocal and mobile (I believe he is going to roll over within the next couple of weeks), a friend of mine giving birth to her daughter (come on Sylvia, your mother is growing impatient!), potential new job prospects as I once again throw myself into the mix of candidates looking for administrative experience, life, laughter and love.
Of course, it wouldn't be a new year with a fresh start without bidding goodbye to the past year. I'd like to take just a moment to pause to remember my dear grandmother Dolores who passed away on the 26th of December. While I am deeply saddened that she is gone and never met Killian or held him, spoke with him, baked with him, I am relieved that now her pain and confusion has ended and she is in the loving arms of the Lord, who took her home at the precise moment He deemed appropriate. It is not for those of us left behind to understand the time or the course it took. We are left with the memories, both bitter and sweet, of her grape pies, birthday phone calls, and tiger spirit.
No pictures on this particular blog post. Instead, I leave you my reader with a poem penned by one more adept than I at expressing the meaning of life, its wonders and perils. This was read at the eulogies of both Grandma and Grandpa Schabacker. Let us never forget what life is really about, not its beginning or end, but the middle.
The Dash Poem 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
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