The Working Dog

My eyes are your eyes to watch

and protect you and yours.

My ears are your ears to hear and detect evil minds in the dark.

My nose is your nose to scent

 the invader of your domain.

And so you may live

My life is also yours.

     Unknown

I saw behind me those who had gone,

and before me those who are to come.

I looked back and saw my father and his father and all our fathers,

and in front to see my son and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond.

And their eyes were my eyes.

As I felt so they had felt, and were to feel,

as then, so now, as tomorrow and forever.

Then I was not afraid,

for I was in a long line that had no beginning and no end.

And the hand of his father grasped my father's hand and his hand was in mine,

and my unborn son took my right hand

and all, up and down the line that stretched from Time That Was to Time That Is Not Yet,

raised their hands to show the link.

And we found that we were one.....

Richard Llewellyn

The Dash

Author Unknown

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a 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.

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.

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?

For you never know how much time is left.

(You could be at “dash mid-range.”)

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’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?

Memorable Quotes

“Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, thou dost not bite as nigh as benefits forgot.

Though thou the waters warp thy sting is not as sharp as friends remembered not.”

- William Shakespeare

 I Only Wanted You

                                                                                                 - Robert Burns

                                                                                                     ~Michelangelo

                                                                                                     ~Frank Barron