Are You Living for the "Dash?"

In his book How to Live a Thousand Years, Giovanni Livera leaves us with a striking thought to help us make the most of our lives. He says: "On everyone's tombstone, there is a name, the year they were born, and the date of death. However, the most important item on that whole tombstone is not any of those things -- it is the dash between the dates of birth and death. The dash is your life. The quality of that life determines how many years you live -- not calendar years, but meaningful years. You could live a thousand meaningful years if your experiences are rich and fulfilling." If everything ended right now for you, what would your dash say about you? Starting with Phoenix's own glamorous B-movie actress Aquanetta to Herbert Zipper, who as an inmate at Dachau started a secret orchestra, let's find out how 22 unique people lived their dash. P.S. Carousel aficionado Charlotte Dinger's obituary is the first one I added to my collection back in 1996. I think you'll agree that she lived a "rich and fulfilling dash." Let's each aspire to that end until we expire. Also, acknowledgement should be made to Linda Ellis as the author of the poem,"The Dash," from which Mr. Livera bases his book. Linda can be contacted at www.lindaslyrics.com.