Robert Gary Romine
June 27, 1937 - April 8, 2010
The Dash
by Linda EllisI 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 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
That can still be rearranged.
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 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?
I had the great honor of knowing my granpa for 29 years of his "dash". What an amazing man he was. And I tihnk he would be proud of the things that were said about his dash. As we were all together for the funeral we did rehash the memories that we have of him. Some of the highlights were:
My cousin Mandi confessed that she thought he was Elvis. [He had great hair, a great voice and lived in Las Vegas.] But my dad in the eulogy said it best. "No, Mandi, he wasn't Elvis, he was much, much more.
We talked about how much he loved my grandma. He would tease her so much but we all knew how very much he loved her. He talked about his beautiful voice and how we are glad that he is able to sing again. I will never forget him singing "How Great Thou Art" at my baptism. 
We talked about his watching of old westerns and Law & Order and how his chair seemed so empty without him there.
We talked about how proud we were of how he overcame bad habits. And became a wonderful, active church member. I personally think of going boating with him. Some of my fondest and earliest memories of him are on the boat.
My personal favorite memory is having him in the temple with me on my wedding day and my endowment day. This really was a dream of mine that I struggled keeping the faith that it would ever come true. Well in December of 2001 my Grandpa went through the Las Vegas temple and received his own endowment and my dad's family was sealed. I was married in September of 2002 and was unbelievably grateful and honored that he was there.
I think the hardest part of all of this is not only the fact that I"m going to miss him terribly but also wondering...
Did he know how much I really, really loved him?
Did he know how much he made me smile? And how much I loved his random phone calls?
Did he know how truly proud I was of him?
Did he know how happy I was to have him at my college graduation, wedding, baptism, etc. etc.?
Did he know how fun it was to watch him with my boys?
There are so many things that I loved about my grandpa. I miss and I know I will continue to miss him until we meet again. I LOVE YOU GRANDPA I hope you know just how much!!!!
My mom told me about this song and I thought I would share it with all of you. It has a beautiful message. And I'm glad for the knowledge that this is our temporary home and that I will see my grandpa again in our forever home.
