Geneology and discovering details about my ancestors has always been a big part of my life. As a young teen, most kids would have been out riding bikes or playing ball on a Saturday. My fondest memories were spending many Saturday mornings at my mom’s cousin’s house, sitting around a table of eight to ten women, all of who had to be 5 times my age, taking notes on everything they said. Dates and places of family events; towns, and counties where they lived; and then you knew it was going to be juicy when the one telling the story began speaking softly as if someone might hear them from another room.

As a result of all those meetings, I became the general archivist of all things BRUNS, ROYER, MADIGAN and many others. With a four-drawer file cabinet filled with photos, newspaper articles, and more Funeral Cards than I can count, what’s to happen to all this ‘stuff’ someday is unknown.

Starting off with pencil, paper, and many notebooks, I eventually graduated to the personal computer (when they were finally invented). Over the years, I have tried numerous software products but have used Ancestral Quest for a long time. One main reason is its ability to link to the online system Family Search, a free system that rivals the other pay-to-use systems you see advertised.

The other morning, as we were waiting to catch our flight home from the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas (maybe I’ll share that story), I was watching the Bob Dole funeral. I really wasn’t paying much attention until Sheila Burke, who was a staff member of his for 20 years, began reading the poem ‘The Dash’. Although I had never heard this poem before, I’ve come to learn it is very popular to be read at the last event of someone’s life.

The just of this poem is how a person’s tombstone lists the year their life began and the year it ended, but the DASH between those years is what’s most important. Did they serve their church and community; were they dedicated to their spouse; did they set a good example for their children; did neighbors know them for their generosity; were they an integral part of their extended family.

Listening to the poem brought back so many memories of those Saturdays sitting around the table and learning all about the DASH in my ancestor’s past. It also made me take a long introspective look at my DASH. Are there relationships I still have a chance to repair, more ways to show my love for my wife, or even other ways to serve my Lord? Now is my chance to make a difference in what others say someday about my DASH.

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?

Linda Ellis