Remember

One year ago today, four of my co-workers and their pilot lost their lives in a plane crash near South Bend, Indiana. They had flown there for the day for a client meeting and were on their way home. I don't want to remember how horrible that day was, but I do want to remember how it changed my outlook on life and death and how it strongly reinforced how quickly a loved one can be taken from us with no warning. Five people lost their life partner that day, ten lost a child, and eleven lost a parent much too soon. To me that is unimaginable, but real.

I'm sharing an email that the president of our company sent out today...it's a great message.

Shortly after Mary Ceynowa was here this fall, I ran across this poem and thought it tied into her talk on “leaving a legacy” and what that meant. I’ve added in the dates of our four friends and co-workers and would ask you take a moment of silence and reflection to remember their “dash” and what they meant to each and every one of us. For those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to interact with or know Tom, Eric, Leslie, or Josh, they all played a role in defining our culture and contributed to making Two Rivers Marketing what it is today, as will you going forward.

Between The Dash

I read of a reverend that stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning...to the end. He noted that first came the date of their birth and spoke of the following date with tears. But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years (Tom 1965-2006, Eric 1975-2006, Leslie 1979-2006, and Josh 1983-2006).

For that dash represents all the time spent alive on earth, and now only those who loved 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? 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 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?

On your desk today you will find a rock with the words “remember” as a symbol to remember the Dash!