Living the Dash

 A poem written by Linda Ellis is often read at funerals.

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 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.”

The dash is life.

On a keyboard the dash is found right after the zero, the top row. You can usually reach it with your right ring finger. The dash (-), such a tiny little line.

The little line, the dash

This dash represents a life lived, memories made and lessons learned. It is birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, graduations. This dash is the mundane days as well. The workdays and weekends. His dash, blended with your dash as you created a life together. This dash, full of all the experiences of a couple, the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. All blended together and wrapped in love.

Now what? “For what matters is how we live and love, and how we spend our years.” 

Your love continues, even though it will look different and feel different. Your love will never die. Your dash continues.

I will share with you, observations, insights, knowledge, and suggestions that will make living your dash, with grief in your life, a bit easier. You will learn to manage your grief instead of feeling defeated by it. By using COPE; Compassionate Care, Organization, Pause with a Purpose and Encouragement you will be able to continue living your dash in such a way that you will become resilient and skilled at living the chaos of grief in your life.