Handprint on My Heart
Every now and then you get really lucky and meet someone who you immediately connect with and, as time goes on, you realize that you have made a friend who has become an inextricable part of your being.
Last year I was doubly blessed. Two people came into my life, at different times and in different countries, and my world is a richer place because of them.
Today is their birthday.
Thank you both for the laughs, the tears, and the love ... and everything in between.
Matthew and Marcelo, I wish you the happiest of birthdays.
If I were magic, I'd summon Kristen and Edina to sing you a song, but since my powers are limited, I hope these words suffice ...
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you:
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend:
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you:
Because I knew you:
I have been changed for good
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share
and none of it seems to matter anymore
Like a comet pulled Like a ship blown
From orbit as it Off it's mooring
Passes a sun, like By a wind off the
A stream that meets Sea, like a seed
A boulder, half-way Dropped by a
Through the wood Bird in the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better,
Because I knew you:
I have been changed for good.
Enjoy your day, boys. You both deserve all the joy this world has to offer.