
As we wander through any cemetery, we’ll find most headstones engraved with a name and a birth date and a death date. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some markers with additional information, sentiments, quotes or verses of scripture. But how do you capture a life on a tombstone? Nearly all grave markers will have a small, engraved dash between the birth date and the death date. As we research the lives of our family and ancestors, we come to realize that the dash is what we’re most interested in. The dash holds everything. First breaths, first love, family life, and final goodbyes. And so much more. These are the ordinary days and defining moments of a mortal life. The dates may mark when a life began and ended, but the dash tells the real story; how someone chose to live in between. What stories will you find when you discover the dash?