Once there was a little girl that had a
difficult job of taking care of a
broken heart. It was a lonely job,
because her heart would not trust
anyone but her to care for it. Her
heart had decided a long time ago that
the world is just not a safe place. No
one knew what was inside her
heart but her. No one knew her heart
was broken. She had promised her heart
that no one would hurt it anymore. She
covered the wounds in her heart with
Band-Aids, ashamed someone would see
the huge, gaping hole.

The Band-Aids held her heart together.
On the outside, her heart looked happy.
No one would ever guess that under the
Band-Aids, her heart was broken almost
in two. One day, she heard of a place
for broken hearts. This place offered
special, magical gifts, guaranteed to
heal broken hearts.

She wished to see this place, to see
the magic that could do what no one
else could do. But, she was afraid. The
journey would be long and difficult
Her heart was so sad, so weak, so
broken, she was concerned about such a
difficult journey. What if someone
along the way caused more damage? To
expose her broken heart to unknown
magic could be the final injury. But,
her heart compelled her to try. So,
cautiously and against better
judgment, the journey began.

The journey was indeed long and very
difficult for her heart. One day, as
she rested under a tree, concerned for
her fading heart, a stranger
approached. She immediately hid her
heart away, to protect it from further
pain and fear. But, this man knew all
about broken hearts, and she couldn't
hide the pain from him. He offered to
show her the way to the place for
broken hearts. She was afraid to trust
the man. Her heart was very fragile.l 
But deep inside, her heart knew the man
was a friend. She also knew that
the last journey her heart could make.

The kind man walked slowly, always
sensitive to the needs of the heart.
he path they traveled together was
almost more than her heart could bear.
The man told her about the magical
wonderful gift her heart would receive
at the end of their journey. She began
to trust this gentleman.

One day, she even took her broken
heart out and showed it to him, and
with him by her side, she found the
courage to continue. Finally , the
path lead them to a simple house with
many rooms. The man lead her to a room
and encouraged her to go inside. With
the man at her side, she cautiously
entered. She was instantly amazed! The
room was full of broken hearts. One
little broken heart sat in the corner,
on the floor. This heart was so very
broken, so very damaged. It made her
cry. She had never seen such pain
before in another heart.

There were pieces of broken heart all
over the floor. She had to do
something. She had to help the little
heart, to protect it from more damage.
Where was the magic? Why were these
hearts so broken? It made her angry.
Where were the magic gifts she had
heard about? Only another broken heart
would understand what to do. She gave
her heart to the man and picked up the
frightened little heart off the floor
and held it to her chest. She wanted
nothing more at that moment
than to hold all of the shattered
pieces and keep them safe. She began to
rock the damaged little heart, singing
a soothing lullaby. She stayed with the
heart for a very long time, calming the
pain that broken hearts feel.

Sometimes she did nothing but cry with
the broken heart, always holding it to
her chest, because she knew, crying
together hurts less than crying alone.
Slowly, the broken heart she held to
her chest began to heal, and as it
healed, it grew stronger. The little
girl didn't understand how this could
happen. There were no magic gifts in
this room. She felt such joy for the
beautiful heart. But, seeing this,
reminded her of her own broken heart.

She turned to the man and gently
clutched her heart to her chest.
Something was different. She asked the
man, "What did you do to my heart? It
feels different.!" She had never felt
this in her heart before and the
newness was a little frightening.

The man replied, "It's your gift. It's
the gift of love. Only love can heal a
broken heart. First, you had to love
your heart enough to make the journey.
Then, you had to trust enough to give
your heart away. When you took the
other broken heart to your chest, that
is when you began to heal
That is the secret to healing broken
hearts. The gift she had searched for
was there all along. All she had to do,
to receive her gift, was give it away.

written by: Marcia Bates