Who could forget
the proverbial " day after "
That was the day
we had officially lost everything
it was the day I contemplated
ending my life for the first time.
I felt as if I was
forever
looking into a window through
a thick pane of warped glass
at the people I had expected to be there
with us when this happened.
I expected us to lean on each other,
not abandon or hide.
But instead those
friends
were in their houses,
locking us out,
keeping things that would
inevitably slip from between their fingers.
It was a lonely place,
but in turn the best time
to have someone teach us a lesson.
We can not always
pick our friends.
Sometimes it takes a full blown catastrophe
to realize many of the people
we took for granted were there as friends all along.
For while we grieved
the loss
of the companionship of those
who we had called our closest friends,
that same day, Thad & Jolynn came to our house.
That day, instead
of lying in bed crying,
they pulled us both up
and helped us think about ways to overcome
and succeed despite the obstacles.
Sincere compassion,
they did not ask for anything,
they just offered.
It took me back to
a memory
I had underestimated many months before.
Mark and I made a
personal loan
to help them make the downpayment for a house,
and as I had learned with most loans,
I had considered the money gone.
But only a few weeks
later,
Jolynn was at the door,
the repayment in full in her hand.
I looked at it in
genuine shock,
it was a lot to pay back at once
with a family to support.
I had expected much,
much longer.
She smiled, hugged
me and left,
and I had decided,
never to underestimate their friendship again as well.
Both exemplified
the true gift
of giving
when there was absolutely nothing
to gain in return.
We vowed because
of them
to make a list of people who were kind
during that horrible time
and remember them in the future.
Perhaps they didn't
even realize
they had reminded us our destiny was waiting.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
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Copyright
© 2004 Maryanne & Mark F. Chisholm. All rights reserved.