If such a post were held off for the right day, today would be the day; followed by only three words...
Happy
Birthday,
Grampa :)
Born June 25, 1941, if my best buddy were still alive today, he would be celebrating 82. Crazy as I do the math in my head, with respect to myself, short two months from this moment, that's exactly half of my age.
I cannot not for the life of me begin to entertain what it must have been like to only be 41 and also be a grandparent??
I wish he were here today for me to ask him. <3
I also know if he were here today I'd have a lot more questions to ask him.
He always gave playful shit to the bandwidth of life.
He would say that
"it's gravity that actually kills you".
He said that you spend your whole life fighting the damn thing and then it sucks you down!
You come into this world on all fours fighting against it... all to succeed in walking on two feet, only for gravity to bring your back to your knees. Once successful against its pull, you're on your two feet for the rest of your life. But as the sands of time pass through the glass of life, gravity starts to suck you back down.
We crawl, we walk with support, then are on our own two feet... the two feet and a cane, to a wheelchair, then ultimately, back in the ground.
Explaining it in that context it's hard to not see how gravity is actually the killer. He said that you have to keep moving or it will suck you in.
No truer words spoken.
To my fortune, I got to know this man when he was on his two feet making strides against gravity. When I look at his life, I know I was part of the dash.
June 25, 1941 ~ August 28, 2011
It's the dash that makes living a life, a life.
The Dash ~ Poem by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end.
He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears. But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years.
For that dash represents all the time that they spent life on Earth. And now only those who loved them 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.
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 is being read with your life’s actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?
Having lived another third of my life since his passing, I'd have so much to talk to him about today. I'd have so much to share, so much to ask, so much to be grateful for.
Knowing what I know about life I can see there's something missing beyond the dash, beyond the final date.
It should read June 25, 1941 ~ August 28, 2011...
Did you see it?
Easy to overlook, check again.
...
beyond the dash ~ is the legacy...
A legacy is not what you leave for people, it's what you leave in people.
In today's modern world leaving a legacy is the closest thing we have to immortality. Done heartfelt and intentional, the reach of one's legacy can alter the future of generations. Generations that extend past immediate family and touch those around us.
Of all days for me to be grateful for, my GP coming into this world 82 years ago not only literally gave me life, it instilled a foundation of his influence in me, beyond the dash...
Now in my 40's, it's the legacy my GP left in me, that has painted an invisible path for my future, my children's future, and futures of the people I've not yet had the privilege of meeting; yet.
Happy Birthday GP!
Thank you! :)
I love you! :)
Have a grateful weekend friend!
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