Inspiration

"You know you're old if you can remember when bacon, eggs and sunshine were good for you."

"I like Christmas presents, Christmas music, Christmas trees, Christmas cards. I like the Christmas spirit. What I don’t like is the way people, whose only interest in Christmas is money, have moved in on a nice, non-commercial holiday like Thanksgiving."
- Andy Rooney, on the preponderance of Christmas commercials ads, sales etc. weeks before Thanksgiving even starts

"Portrait of a Friend"

I can't give solutions to all of life's problems, doubts, or fears. But I can listen to you, and together we will search for answers.

I can't change your past with all it's heartache and pain, nor the future with its untold stories.
But I can be there now when you need me to care.

I can't keep your feet from stumbling.
I can only offer my hand that you may grasp it and not fall.

Your joys, triumphs, successes, and happiness are not mine;
Yet I can share in your laughter.

Your decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge;
I can only support you, encourage you, and help you when you ask.

I can't prevent you from falling away from friendship, from your values, from me.
I can only pray for you, talk to you and wait for you.

I can't give you boundaries which I have determined for you,
But I can give you the room to change, room to grow, room to be yourself.

I can't keep your heart from breaking and hurting,
But I can cry with you and help you pick up the pieces and put them back in place.

I can't tell you who you are.
I can only love you and be your friend.
- Unknown

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson