Being There

This I dedicate to all my friends and your friends, who selflessly helped me through this hard times.. I would never have been able to be where I am if if weren't for them. You've left me with a legacy of loving, supportive friends.

Do you know of someone

Whose precious brother has died?

Perhaps she is a neighbor or friend

With whom you can confide.

You assume that she is suffering

A tragedy so deep,

That there is nothing you can do

Since all she does is weep.

You feel that if you see her

There is nothing you can say

That would make her precious brother come back

Or make the pain go away.

And if by chance you meet her

And have to face her grief,

You'll do your very best

To make this meeting brief.

You'll talk about the weather

Or the lady down the lane,

But you'll never mention her brother-

That would cause her too much pain!

And when the funeral's over,

And all is said and done,

You'll go home to your family,

And she'll be all alone.

She'll go on, she'll be all right, time heals-

Or so it seems,

While she's left alone to pick up the pieces

Of her shattered life and dreams.

Or...

You can open your heart

And find that special place

Where compassion and true giving

Are awaiting your embrace

"Today I'm thinking of you in a very special way,"

Or, how about "I love you!"

Are some loving things to say.

Sometimes a very simple task

Like picking up the phone,

Can help her feel not-so-quite

Desperately alone.

Whatever comes from a genuine heart

Cannot be said in vain

For the truth is, it's these very things

That lessen her great pain.

And when you let her talk about

Her brother who is now gone,

You'll know this is far greater

Than anything you've said.

So will you reach out with all your soul

And let her know you care?

For in the end there's no substitute

For simply BEING THERE!

*A poem by Debi L. Pettigrew, which I've altered a bit..

Thank you..all of you..in all the things you have done, in all your messages to me, in the very act of kindness that you've shown me. My brother, would not have wish for better friends than you and I keep telling myself, through the things you have shown me, that my brother's Life was not short. It was FULL.