Friends...
The friendships we made while living in Italy will last a lifetime. What wonderful people (especially, the Italian members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). The Church is not huge in Italy (approx. 25,000 members) but there is a congregation in every region/district. Here is a group from L'Aquila (the second coldest city in Italy). They are true friends.A few years ago a cycling buddy of mine and his wife divorced after several years of marriage (and after having had several children). As you can well imagine, he was an emotional wreck at the time. I remember doing a few things with him to help take his mind off his troubles (but nothing in particular stands out in my mind). Later, he told me that he'd written a poem for me about friendship. Needless-to-say, I don't usually receive poems from my cycling buddies!
With his permission, here it is:FRIENDS
Friends are not blind, they can see through the fear,
they can see all the changes, they know to draw near.
They stand at the ready to help and advise,
they know when their time is, and then they arise.
To the task they are equal, and even if not,
they are there, they are trying, for this is their lot.
We are bound by our love, our honor, our God,
to do what we can, not like those who just plod
through their lives, never seeing, never wanting to hear,
never wanting to speak, to get close, to get near.
When life gets dark, when the hoards disappear,
the true ones stand tall, they will be there to hear
when silent tears fall, when your souls in despair,
when in pain your heart cries, when it whimpers in fear.
When our life seems to end, when our world falls apart,
when all hope gets abandoned and all stops but our heart,
our friends are not blind, they can see through the tears,
they can see with their love, they know to draw near.
© 1996 R. Scott Stone—All rights reserved.
Comments