What's in your dash?

December 2, 1973 Phil Gerbyshak was born. Ron and Angie were the proud parents of their first son.

May 22, 1990 Phil Gerbyshak got his driver's license...and proceeded to almost kill himself by driving 130 miles per hour down a gravel road.

April 19, 1996 Phil Gerbyshak left the Navy after 4 faithful years of service

August 31, 2002 Phil and Kim Gerbyshak got married in a small ceremony in Wauwatosa, WI.

July 23, 2007 Today Phil Gerbyshak wrote this blog post.



Phil Gerbyshak died today. The funeral was small, the friends laughed, they cried, they talked about Phil's dash. And his crash. But not his moustache. He could never grow one.

1973 - ??

My dash. What happened between the time I was born and right now, when I'm writing this post. LOTS of things, really. I listed the milestones. The things that an outsider would see if she or he were looking at just the headlines. But that's not my dash. Really, none of those dates is all that important. Not by themselves anyway. What's important is the emotions, and the stories, that happened on those days.

When I was 2 years old, a girl fell in front of me at church. I stopped, kissed her knee, and told her it would be all better. And for a moment, it was.

When I was in grade school, my best friend had a very severe case of epilepsy. I was one of the only children not afraid of him, because his seizures were INTENSE. I remember one particular seizure where he took his lunch tray and smashed it into a million pieces. I was scared, but he was my friend, so what could I do but go up to him and try to get him some more lunch. It was a tough time, but it made our friendship stronger. We were best friends for a long time.

When I was in high school, I got into that car accident I mentioned above. My friend who had epilepsy was with me. I wanted to show his mom my license and I had to be home by 4 PM. I didn't leave school until 3:20, and they lived 20 miles the other way from me. I drove so fast, as fast as I could, to show his mom my license. I was so proud. I got in a car accident 20 minutes after I left school. Almost killed myself. Some people still call me Crash.

There's more to my dash. More details, more stories, more emotions. But that's for another day.

If I had to break my dash down to two things that I'd want to be known for, it'd be my relationships with God and my friends and the passion with which I lived my life.

What in your dash?

And now for a poem.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

- Robert Frost

The above is my brother Paul's favorite poem. It was in the book (and the movie) The Outsiders. I think it speaks for itself.

What's in your dash?

[Phil Gerbyshak wrote this post in response to Lorelle's blog challenge to Blog Your Dash. I'd also encourage you to read Brad Isaac's Choose How You'll Be Remembered for further inspiration and insight.]

Comments

[Pam]

Phil, what a beautiful post and a wonderful reminder to life to the max. Thank you, Phil!!

[Henok]

As you know, I am working with my English. When I was reading you post this morning, I considered you really died and my heart was broken--then I realized every thing was reminder and learning. Thank God.

The post was great and educational. It mad me to think what life mean --past, present and future. Great post as always thanks Phil.

[ann michael]

Henok - English is my first language and my heart skipped a beat for a second too!

I'm glad you're still here, Phil! The world would be at a serious hug deficit without you.

[Phil Gerbyshak]

@Pam - Glad you enjoyed the story. Keep playing full out! It's the best way to live!

@Henok & Ann - Sorry about that. Didn't mean to scare you. I'm still here. Still no mustache though!

[Deb Call]

Phil - this was a very provocative post. You had me hanging on for deal life! Your most important point - its what is in between the points that tells the real story.

Thank God your dash continues!

[Terri]

Phil,

What an inspiring way of looking at the important moments of one's life! I'm up to the challenge of "Blog your Dash". I'll have to seriously consider what important moments in my life I would like to be noted for.

And I thought that you couldn't be any more thought provoking than you already were!!! :)

Have a GREAT day!
Terri

[Phil Gerbyshak]

Thanks Terri. It is a GREAT day! Thanks for sharing your feedback. I'm glad I could make you think a bit :)

[Walker]

Phil,
First time I've heard about you. Very interesting stuff to say the least and weren't we all that idiot behind the wheel the first time? I cleared a hill at 80 and had a guy in my lane, whoops! No accident though unless you count the missing hubcap from the screeching stop. My Dash is my journey around Wisconsin (I noticed you wear cheese too) right now and like you the rest of the dash has been full of different emotions, we always need to know our life in important thanks for the reminder.

[Phil Gerbyshak]

Walker - you are very welcome. Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself. Happy cheese-racing to you too!