LAUREN BALSANELLO PUERARO
8/23/1960 ~ 7/21/2010
Even if I had forgotten the significance of the date I would have been aware that yesterday marked a momentous loss.
Like the song says "Always something there to remind me..."
Two years later & I am still standing on the shore...
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs
like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs
like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
Gone where?
Gone from my sight . . . that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the place of destination.
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the place of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment
when someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
there are other eyes watching her coming . . .
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .
when someone at my side says,
" There she goes! "
there are other eyes watching her coming . . .
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .
"
Here she comes! "
Henry Van Dyke
And that is dying...
Lauren is never far from my thoughts,
reminding me to live a life without regrets or apologies.
My message to her today and always:
1960 ~ 2010
~The Dash~
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of his friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.
at the funeral of his friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.
and spoke of 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent your dash?
by Linda Ellis
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