HEY! HEY! Did you celebrate Valentine Day? I always celebrate in the same way year after year with a red jello heart with mixed fruit in it. We have been married 61 years and there have been very few valentine days when we didn’t have a red jello heart. I can truthfully say we are still sweethearts because my husband doesn’t need a special day to show his love, nor do I.

I have been recuperating with this broken hip for 3 months now and I know I couldn’t have come along this far without a loving partner.

When I was recuperating there were many days I didn’t feel like doing a thing, but then Virg noticed I was getting e-mails from a couple of my nieces and I wasn’t answering them. He hiked my computer chair up and got me communicating with friends and relatives and it has been a good thing. After all, you can just watch so many reruns of Dalton Abby. The series 3 on Masterpiece ends Sunday night and I know they’ll leave everything up in the air and I’ll have to wait a year for part 4. For someone who has never liked soap operas, I’m hooked on this.

I’d like to pass something along that was sent to me on the internet it’s called The Dash. We have all been to funerals where the minister refers to the dates of birth and then to the date of death. First comes the date of his or her birth, but what matters the most of all was the dash between those years to the end. For that dash represents all the time they spent on Earth and now those who loved them 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 would 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 never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile remembering that this last 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?

This month is the month for a good dessert, but most of us hate to spend a great deal of time on a fancy dessert, so keep it simple.

CHERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1 can cherry pie filling

1 1/2 cup Bisquick

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

Put filling in an 8X8 baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over pie filling.

Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven. Best served warm, topped with some milk.

“May you be guided through your Dash of Life.”