Recently I attended a graduation ceremony and the valedictorian's speech reminded me of this wonderful insight.

A man stood up at his wife's funeral and spoke. They had been married for more than fifty years. This is the core of the husbands' speech:

"On the tombstone you will notice there are two dates. The first is the date of my wife's birth the second is the date of her passing. What we often forget to notice is that there is a dash between those two numbers. This dash represents her life."

That dash is what makes us who we are. It is what took place in between those two dates. There are many lessons learned, many tears of joy and sorrow, much love shared and many lives touched; all portrayed within that simple little dash.

When we are born you are crying and everyone is smiling. Live your life so that when you die you are smiling and all those around you are crying. Put more dash in your life, and may it be a very long dash indeed.

Rev. Lucinda Schersing is a Usui and Karuna Reiki Master. She believes wholeheartedly in the Basic Precepts and in the many levels to the meaning of "We Are All Related".