I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning......to the end He noted that first came her date of birth than spoke the following date with tears (1934 - 1998 ) For that dash represented all the time she spend on earth 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 most is how we live and love, and how 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 try to understand how just how 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 may last only a little while Then when your eulogy is read, with your life' actions to rehash Would you be proud of the things they saw about HOW you spent your DASH?
I don't want a funeral. Those things are nothing but highway robbery. Have a back yard party, sit my urn on the table, and tell funny stories while getting boozy and eating wings. When done, just chunk the urn up into the woods and get on with your life. I would rather you spent $10K on booze and chicken, than on a coffin, grave, vault, tombstone, flowers, etc.
A good old Irish-type wake perhaps - where everybody just gets drunk huh? There is a certain sense and logic to the idea, which still is practiced in the "old country." If it is the Irish - one can expect the women keening; the local pub owner showing up with plenty of liquor, with tax stamps making them legal, a few neighborhood fights, and such, and a grand time enjoyed by all - except - of course - the deceased. Been that way for centuries. Although my own uncle spent 40-years in Syracuse, N.Y. operating a major funeral home, I always found the enterprise too strange for my taste. It is the churches that know and understand death - without it - they wouldn't have much reason to exist. Your idea does have merit, although, one should remember that funeral's are for the living, a form of goodbye and closure, and do serve a purpose. Then again, the famous comedian Rodney Dangerfield called golf courses and cemetery's the two biggest wastes of real estate in the world................
The last funeral/burial we paid for was over $15K and there was nothing elaborate in the whole shabang. By the time I die, it will probably be $30K. Screw that.
This is a heartwarming poem. I never thought of the depth of meaning that a DASH has between birth and death.
