To

This tiny little word pisses me off lately. It's so final. Birthdate to Deathdate. Look at it! So arrogant and smug! So powerful! It's like it had some responsibility in determining the day that Dad and anyone else would die.

A lifetime of happiness, sadness, joy, heartache, accomplishments, failures, marriage, children, etc. all summed up in two little letters. That's a life between those two dates. The word "to" just doesn't do it justice. I'm not sure what should be there instead, but a dash doesn't seem to make me so angry.

A dash lets you wonder wonder what happened between those two dates, it's very open minded and doesn't judge. It allows the friends and family left behind to place some memories there and feel as if they are still a part of the life of the person who has moved on.

So I'm requesting that when I die, you please use a dash. I'm not giving that nasty little word any more notches on it's bedpost.

Jen
(I realize that I must be angry at something else entirely, but I'm not sure what that is, so this is what you get!)