Phone Numbers and Punctuation

Today I found myself trying to memorize phone numbers! It started at church yesterday. Bill left our church lunch early so David could be home by 2:00. Then, Bill was going to return to church and pick me up. I stayed behind because it was our turn to clean-up after the dinner. A friend asked me where Bill and David were, and I proceeded to tell them. She said, "There's no reason for Bill to return all the way back here. Give him a call and tell him that we can bring you home."

It suddenly dawned on me that I do not know Bill's cell phone number. I'm just used to clicking on the icon that says, "Dad"! I then realized that there are very few numbers that I actually know...I just click! Me! The person that still remembers the phone number that I had when I was in second grade!! Oh the times, they are a'changing! Which leads me to this:

Have any of you seen this new punctuation mark? It's called the interrobang. Actually, it's not new at all. It first was introduced in 1962. Even Remington had a key on their manual typewriters for this mark. Not to be out done, today you can find an interrobang in Microsoft Word's Fonts. Go to Format, choose Fonts, then Wingdings 2. You'll find 4 different versions of the interrobang. Hit the ` ~ key, the ] } key, the 6 ^ key, or the - _ key.

The use for the interrobang is to enable a writer to express both a question and an exclamation at the same time. I think a good use of this punctuation mark could come at the end of this sentence: "Who forgot to put gas in the car." Just wonderin' if it will make a comeback...

Which brings me to my last thought...this time it's the "dash". Last week, on November 12, it would have been my Dad's birthday. He would have been 91! Lots of memories came to mind on that day. Like the time he could hardly walk without a cane and yet he danced with my youngest daughter at a restaurant. Or the time he drove non-stop from Florida to Mississippi just to be with David on his birthday. Or how he surprised me with a brand new car when I graduated from college. Many, many good memories.

But today, there is a marker in the cemetery that reads: Albert M. Rodenhouse 1918 - 2001

The marker clearly state his birth and his death, but it is only a "dash" that sums up the entirety of his life here on earth. A significant life, remembered by some as only a "dash".

That thought brought to mind the saying that is so true: Only one life, t'will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Love you and miss you, Dad!