I knelt there at the headstone
of one I love and cried.
Name, with dates of birth and death,
were perfectly inscribed.

I pondered these two dates
and how little they both mean
when compared to the tiny dash
that lies there in between.

For, the dash is as an emblem
of our time here on the earth.
And although small, it stands for all
our years of life and worth.

And our worth will be determined
by how we live each day.
We can fill our dash with goodness,
or waste our life away.

To ourselves, as well as others,
let’s be honest, kind and true…
And live our lives in the way
we know God wants us to.

Let us look for opportunities
to do a worthy deed,
showing love and understanding
to those who are in need.

For If our hearts are full of love,
throughout our journey here,
we’ll be loved by all who knew us
and our memory they’ll hold dear.

And when we die, those memories
will bring grateful, loving tears
to all whose lives were touched
by the dash between our years.