The Dash said it all...

This past week I attended a funeral of a friend...never will be anywhere on my list of favorite things to do...We are all gonna go someday, I get it & I'm ready, however I don't wanna be the one to start the line to heaven.

As I sat there listening to all the wonderful things said about my friend I found myself wondering what people would be saying after it was far too late for me to change their minds. Right now as long as I have breath in my body I can make a change to make me a better person.  After I am gone I won't even hear what they say...so I guess the fact that the dead don't hear anything could be a really good thing.

Before I met David, I had my funeral all planned out. I done it while working hospice. You attend so many funerals as a hospice nurse & see some things that are very special & some things that go on to that list of DON'T YOU DARE!!!!  I had also written letters to every single member of my family, yes including those precious grands that can't even read yet. These days the funeral plans have been laid down mainly because it's a funeral not a wedding...its not FOR me its for those left behind. Now that took a little while to soak in because when I realize that David is right I am like every other wife in America you almost have to whack me in the butt with a boat paddle to get me to admit it.

My dad wants to be buried & have a headstone. He thinks that is the only mark he will be leaving on this earth.  So to Dad that headstone is probably the most important mark in the cemetery...not to me. To me its the dash mark...the one between your date of birth & your date of death.

Its crazy to me that you can walk around in any cemetery & when you find a baby's headstone it has the very same dash mark as the 100 year old veteran.  I mean its such a little tiny mark for 100 years...I'm just in my 40's & I think mine should be LONGER!!! What have you done with your dash mark?

Did you live life to the fullest? Was your life simple? Complete your bucket list? Often we spend a lot of time comparing our lives to the lives of others.  Comparison is never our friend...God made us all unique...no one can be a better YOU than YOU!! Just because your neighbor has a new car every couple years doesn't mean they have more money than you....most likely they have more debt than you.  The co-worker who comes into work all put together, every hair in place, perfect makeup...she may have had to work extra hard to cover bruises that no one knows about. We sometimes have the impression that peoples lives are far different than what they are...its our nature. We all know what assuming gets you.

So after much thought on this matter...I have come to realize that dash mark is FAR too short, the wrong color, not even thick enough to truly represent the life I have had!!! Instead of a dash mark which has a clear ending I think an arrow would be better suited for mine...the point should point in the direction of my date of death. John 3:16 tells us that if we believe in Jesus we WILL have eternal life...eternal means it just keeps going & going like the energizer bunny. So even if I am not here my life is not over...but the dash says it all!!!