True Friend

An ordinary friend has never seen you cry.

A true friend has had a wet shoulder from your tears.

An ordinary friend does not know your parents' first names.

A true friend probably has their phone number written down
as well.

An ordinary friend brings a bottle of wine to your party.

A true friend shows up early to help you prepare...
and stays late to help clean up.

An ordinary friend gets upset when you call late.

A true friend asks why you weren't able to call earlier.

An ordinary friend likes to listen to your problems.

A true friend likes to help you solve them.

An ordinary friend behaves like a guest and waits to be
served when he or she visits.

A true friend goes to the fridge and serves himself.

An ordinary friend thinks your friendship is over after a
quarrel.

A true friend knows that friendships get stronger after a
quarrel.

An ordinary friend always expects you to be there to help out.

A true friend is always there to help you out.

A true friend?
Someone who sticks with you when everyone else abandons you.

..................................................................

"A friend is someone I can be sincere with, someone I can
think out loud to."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

..................................................................

While walking along a beach at dawn an old man saw a boy
picking starfish up off the sand and throwing them back into
the sea. He caught up to the boy and asked him what he was doing.

The boy replied that the starfish would die if left exposed
on the sand after sunrise.

"But this beach goes on for miles," the old man said.
"There must be thousands of starfish stranded on the sand.
What difference will it make to save just a few?"

The boy looked at the starfish he was holding in his hand,
then threw it onto the surf.

"Well, for THAT starfish it makes a big difference!"

(Minnesota Literacy Council)

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Harianto Tjong
FSU Physics Graduate Student
Institute of Molecular Biophysics 419
(850) 645-1334
ht03d@fsu.edu
Tallahassee FL-32306