The Dash Poem

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of his friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth…
and now only those who loved her
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.

And 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’s being read
with your life’s actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent your dash?

by Linda Ellis

Below are the deceased classmates as provided by the reunion committee:

Steve Albert

Linda Barnard Walker

Charles Beckwith Jr

Allan Broome

Gus Brown Jr

Alicia Burgess

Steve Carter

Jim Clark

Leland Collins

Glenn Davis

Ruth Ann Day Regan

Terry DeJacomo Gomez

Shirley Dodds

Betty Fowler

Edward Gainer

Ania Gromadzka

Gary Guise

John Heinrich

Cliffod Honeycutt

Samuel James 'Jimmy' Hughes

Jimmy Jiminez

Fred Juech

Karl Kapanke

Doreen Karp

Michael Kurosky

Kenneth Le Meur 

Mark Linden

Juan Lopez

Carla Lugo Rauch

Carol McCain Blair

James McKeehan

Ted Morse

Zora Pergle Cary

James Pewett

Ginger Pope Jellison

Barbara Price

Larry Queen

Mary Roach Kay-Evans

Gary Sems

Jenny Shafer Bogenreif

Nancy Sigler Rohrer

Diane Sironi

Linda Smith

Mike Stoller

Sharon Sutton Bethel

Edwin Terry

Robbie Thomas

Rebecca Thornhill Doty

Ken Varone

Martha Walters

Larry Weinbach

David Withrow

William Wootten