Portrait Of A Friend

I can't give solutions to all life's problems, doubts, or fears.

But I can listen to you, and together we will search for an answer.

I can't change your past with all its heartache and pain, or 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, not 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 or hurting,

But I can cry with you and 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.

~Author Unknown To Me~

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

~Augustine~

Beware, as long as you live, of judging people by appearances.

~Jean de la Fontaine~