Always say I love you...

As many of you know, I work at Nashua Monument Works selling cemetery memorials to those who have lost loved ones.  I never in a million years have ever thought I would work at a place like this, but here I am!  Today, I had a woman come in with her mother looking at stones.  The woman was looking for a stone for her and her late husband.  Her mother had told me over the phone that her daughter's husband had passed away, so they were starting to look.  This woman was almost in a daze.  She had a look on her face of grief to a degree I have NEVER seen.  She didn't cry, but she didn't smile either.  She brought along a photo of the family photo she wanted etched on the stone, a mom, a dad, and a son.  They looked so happy, it pained me to see her sitting in front of me with the exact opposite expression.  Sandness, emptiness, was all she had left.  My heart hurts to think about it.  I figured out after she had left that her husband had passed away last  week.

This job has taught me to live.  To live with all I have all the time.  To love those who mean so much to me with all my heart, and to tell them how much they mean to me.  To appreciate all that God has given to me.

Life is so short, so why hold grudges?  Why not say I love you?  Why not live in the moment...because in a split second, your life could change, live for today because you may never have tommorow.



I found this poem hanging up in the office I work in the first day I started...I think it's great....

HOW DO YOU LIVE YOUR DASH

by Linda Ellis

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 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?