After my mom passed away, I found a folder in her desk marked “funeral.” The folder contained her self-written obituary, a poem and a copied short story. The story was about how your date of birth and date of death are important dates but the most important is the dash between the two. The dash is how you lived your life and will be remembered. My mom did an awesome job with her dash. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister and friend. She loved unconditionally and was always there to help, listen and support. She touched many other lives, too. She was a schoolteacher for More than 20 years. She led a chair aerobics class at her church and volunteered weekly at our local library. She loved genealogy and family history and enjoyed helping others discover their history. She kept a calendar of birthdays and anniversaries and was known for sending cards, emails and handwritten notes. She had a great sense of humor and a beautiful smile. I think about her every day and feel extremely blessed that she was my mom. I am going to try to follow her example and leave a good dash, too.
Daughter Susan Scheer
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Remembering 2024
This article appears in Remembering 2024.
