Lucy H

About Lucy H

“Living in the Dash!” was the phrase Phil would respond when asked “How he was doing” since the diagnosis of Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer more than two years ago. It didn’t come to him right away though. It is natural to carefully review one’s life when faced with a terminal illness. Life itself takes on a deeper meaning and appreciation.
One particular memory was trimming grass around headstones at the beautiful Evergreen-Washelli Memorial. It was a summer job during college and gave him time to think. Each headstone had at least three things in common and one of them caught his attention: a little dash. For all of the different time periods represented among the thousands of headstones, ornate or simple, each had this just one little dash separating the year of birth and death. One small dash, no matter the length of life, male or female, physical appearance, heritage, fame, well-heeled or impoverished. The dash was the same. The difference then, was in how that life was lived!
Phil realized that life happened in that little dash and determined to make the most of his dash to the best of his ability.
One way he did that was raising our three sons to be fine young men, running a construction business with honesty and integrity, passing on construction skills to the next generation (BuildingInYouth.com) and loving others (especially me for almost 46 years).
He fought valiantly against this treacherous, aggressive cancer but succumbed at the end. Even though I was by his side 24/7 the last 2 weeks, he managed to pull an “Irish Exit” on me. I missed his departure by 15 minutes or so. His chuckle likely startled me awake!

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