Week #20 – The Dash
It’s been a tough week.
For one reason or another, it’s Thursday already and I’ve only 9.27mins of the replay watched. (I’m old and can’t stay up to watch the live thing……….).
My Franklin virtue this week is taking initiative. I need to up the game and come up with a solution.
We have had a death in the family. I have to drive to the funeral on Thursday by myself. So, I take initiative and say the webby can keep me company on the drive (just listen, not watch).
When I say the heavens were not happy this morning, I mean they were NOT HAPPY. Thunder and lightning, torrential rain, blowing wind and then massive hailstones. Even the sound of the webby was being drowned out. I had no option but to pull in and let it pass.
Was this the outpour of grief coming to meet me? Were we all receiving the final goodbye?
What would he pay for one more day?
A much-loved husband, father, grandfather and friend. Always up for the chats and an auld prank or two. What would he give for one more day? His final time on this earthly plane was one of pain and illness. Would he want one more day? His family certainly would. Maybe one more day without illness so he could actually say goodbye? Absolutely. But no amount of money or gold on this earth could buy that for him.
What would future me give to have one more day? What was I giving NOW to have one more day?
As I got closer, Mark was “filling in the dash”. What was my dash going to say? Would it be full? Would it show the true me, the golden me, or was my dash covered in cement? How many more Springs full of the bursting of new life have I left on my dash? I am nature’s greatest miracle. Am I living up to that? I have to gather myself now and go into the Church.
At the end of the service. my niece gets up to talk. She ends with this poem….
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 the tombstone from the beginning to the end.
He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears.
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years.
For that dash represents all the time that they spent life 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.
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?
Thank you Laura
Caitriona, this is such a raw and beautifully written reflection, and I truly felt every word. The storm, the timing, the weight of loss—it all seems to weave together as if the universe itself was acknowledging the grief. Your questions about the dash, about what we are truly giving now to make our time matter, hit deep. This moment, though painful, is also a powerful call to live fully, to let the golden you shine, and to make sure your dash tells the story you want it to tell.
Thank you, Janet. I wouldn’t be where I am without my tribe xx
This is soooo profound and deep. Less, in the sense of explanation or discussion, is so much more and shows how you are allowing this to impact your thinking.
Thank you for sharing this deep, personal experience with us.
I am truly sorry for your loss.
Thank you
Thank you Peaches.
Your profound self-inquiry gives a lot of meaning to your loss. It sounds like your deep emotion brings to the fore an inspiration for living your life, giving your best?
What a coincidence about the Dash.
I’m sorry for your loss Caitriona.
I am so sorry for your loss. I’m glad you could take comfort in the Dash.