Kicking off a week long celebration...

Hello everyone! Today kicks off a week long celebration of my best friend's (Oregonian peep) birthday! She has been my friend since I was a sophomore (and she was a freshman) in high school. I am so thankful for her! I couldn't get a card done for this posting, but she'll have a whole weeks posting devoted to her.  I know she'll cut me some slack...(I hope).


Oh, I thought it would be cute to include a picture of her, so here it is:


Okay, the real story, I wanted to include a picture of her when she was younger, but the stupid printer/scanner pooped out on me.  As a result, I needed to find a quick replacement image...and the angel image is what I found.  It represents how much she means to me!  And here's the poem to go with it:


What is a Friend?


What is a friend? I will tell you
It is a person with whom you dare
to be yourself.  Your soul can be naked
with him. He seems to ask of you
to put on nothing, only to be what you
are.  He does not want you to be
better or worse.  What you are with 
him, you feel as a prisoner feels
who has been declared innocent.  You
do not have to be on your guard.
You can say what you think, so long as it
is genuinely you. He understand
those contradictions in your nature that
lead others to misjudge you.
With him you breathe freely. You can
avow your little vanities and envies
and hates and vicious sparks, you mean-
nesses and absurdities and, in opening
them up to him, they are lost, dissolved on
the white ocean of his loyalty.


He understands. You do not have to be
careful. You can abuse him,
neglect him, tolerate him. Best of all,
you can keep still with him. It
makes no matter. He likes you - he is
like fire that purges to the bone.
He understands. He understands.
You can weep with him, sin with him,
laugh with him, pray with him.
Through it all - and underneath - he sees,
knows and loves you.  A friend?
What is a friend? Just one, I repeat,
with whom you dare to be yourself.


--C. Raymond Beran