I'm glad you're in my dash

What is a dash?  A couple things.  The first is a race run usually in competition, as shown below.

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection

But it's also a space between one time and another.  The following poem make me stop and consider what that time looks like.

I'm glad you're in my dash

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

And spoke the following date with tears.

But he 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 the 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 think of 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'd treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile

Remembering that this special dash

May last only 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 your spent your dash?