I'll Be There For You, When The Rain Starts To Pour

Yesterday my family and I had the privilege to have lunch with my high school classmate and his family who were just in town for the weekend.  The last time I had seen my friend and his wife was at a class reunion 10 years ago and we didn’t even much time to speak.  It was so nice to catch up (as much as we could) and re-visit “old times”.

This friend and his brother were very kind to me during a very turbulent, confusing time in my life.  My parents were bitterly divorcing, and although I was in my late teens/early twenties this was an earth shaking event for me.  At the same time, I was in and out of college having a difficult time navigating my own life.  Those guys were my anchor, tethering me to themselves when my own family could not.  They were my comedians making it easier for me to exchange my tears of pain for tears of joy.  They provided a sofa for me to sleep on when I could not bear to go home.  When I was lonely and hopeless, they were my red roses in the rain.

I can only hope that I can honor their friendship to me by paying it forward and being “them” to someone else.  Hopefully, you have had such a friend or friends; I have been blessed to have had many.  Today, I urge each one of you to send a quick message of gratitude to that person or to those people who have meant so much to you and let them know it.  I just did.

-Tessa L. Charles