<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span style="caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">“The Dash Poem” by Linda Ellis</span><div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I read of a man who stood to speak </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">At the funeral of a friend. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">He referred to the dates on her tombstone </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">From the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a tabindex="-1" style="color: rgb(56, 88, 152); cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;"></a></span>beginning to the end.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> He noted that first came the date of her birth </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And spoke of the following date with tears, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">But he said what mattered most of all </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Was the dash between those years.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">For that dash represents all the time </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">That she spent alive on earth </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And now only those who loved her </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Know what that little line is worth.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> For it matters not, how much we own, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The cars, the house, the cash, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">What matters is how we live and love </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And how we spend our dash.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> So think about this long and hard; </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Are there things you'd like to change? </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">For you never know how much time is left </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">That can still be rearranged.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> If we could just slow down enough </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">To consider what's true and real </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And always try to understand </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The way other people feel.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> And be less quick to anger </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And show appreciation more </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And love the people in our lives </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Like we've never loved before.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> If we treat each other with respect </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">And more often wear a smile, </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Remembering that this special dash </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Might only last a little while.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-size: 14px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">So when your eulogy is being read </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">With your life's actions to rehash </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Would you be proud of the things they say </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">About how you spent your dash?</div></div></div><div><br></div>—————————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://www.MoscowCares.net</span></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></body></html>