Page 74 - DASH INSPIRATIONS (Embed).doc

After the Dash
Death, demise, passing, decease, bereavement... no matter how you choose to label it, it hurts. As I’ve mentioned, in 1996, I penned an inspirational poem titled, “The Dash” about that little line on a headstone between the dates of birth and death -- that little dash that ultimately represents every step, every breath we take during our time here on
earth. Millions have since found solace in the words of that poem because the simple, honest lyrics sink into the reader’s heart and soul, often creating an emotional epiphany. A bereaving heart is like a dehydrated sponge -- expended and hardened, waiting for something that can be absorbed like water to soften the aching, the longing, the agony. I am grateful the words of The Dash have offered such relief to so many.
When I wrote the poem more than 26 years ago, I didn’t “do” death. As an adult, I had purposely not attended any funeral services, even for my own grandparents. I attribute this avoidance to an event from my childhood when I was unwillingly brought to the service of my best friend’s little sister, who died unexpectedly in her sleep after a fall in the playground earlier that week. Though I was just a young child, I remember intently watching her mother’s face and feeling her anguish throughout my young soul. Her eyes, that once held the essence of laughter and sunshine to me, were now sullen, red and angry. The beautiful woman I’d known all my life, who had welcomed me into her home as one of her own daughters, now represented a frightening image of fear and pain, an image I never wanted to see again.
However, in the years since creating The Dash poem, I have subconsciously become strangely familiar with loss and its subsequent inevitable pain. I believe that writing The Dash, unbeknownst to me, slowly provided my own curative path that would calm my uncertainties allowing me to learn, accept and live with the reality of what comes “after the dash” -- when someone who has been a significant part of your life is no longer there. Albert Einstein wrote: “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” Since writing The Dash poem I’ve received thousands of stories of uncanny events where The Dash poem has reached people when they needed it most. The stories and incidents shared with me from people around the world must be considered more than “coincidence.”
74
Dash Inspirations by Linda Ellis www.LindaEllis.life