What is in a ( - )?

Hyphen, dash...

–noun 1. a short line (-) used to connect the parts of a compound word or the parts of a word divided for any purpose.

–verb (used with object) 2. hyphenate

dash 13. the mark or sign (—) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.

All well and good when you are talking about language but what about these examples? What is in a ( - )?

Okay, some of you may go the wrong direction with this but what I am getting at is this: what is the value of the (-)? What wonderful, terrible, sad, joyous, mundane, bizarre, incredible, and moving things can be found in the (-). I want my (-) to be meaningful, to be remembered, to be recalled as, "Yes, that is how it should be done." After all, the two dates before and after are just singular days, what is the length of the (-)?...39 years, 81 years, 77 years, 23 years, 17 years, 19 years? So much can be packed into a (-). This isn't to think about the second date this is a reminder to think about the (-). What are you doing with it? What are you making it? How will it "change the world" or just your cul-de-sac? Will it have intrinsic value beyond the world's view? Will it be out there for all to see or will it be hidden and private? Will it have a large section for others or will it all be for you? After all it's just a (-), a simple punctuation mark, a slip of the pen, a modest dash, and yet it's use and placement can change things. (See Eats, Shoots and Leaves or Pain in the English for more of the same.)

Off to make scones for my kid's teachers,

Tony