If good friends fell from the sky like raindrops,
I'd turn my umbrella upside down and have
all that I need.

But friends do not come to us that way,
instead they shoot up through the ground
from a tiny seed of common interest, are
cultivated with good times and grow into a
beautiful flower to enjoy that continues to
bloom as long as it is cared for.

These flowers of friendship are gathered into
a fragrant bouquet that enhances the world
around us and are meant to be enjoyed by
ourselves as well as to bring cheer or
comfort to others.

Like flowers, friendships also go through changes,
sometimes they are allowed to die, but if you
care for them well and tend them with a gentle
touch, they will continue to build roots in new
places and bloom for years of enjoyment.

When you have found a friend such as this,
you will know by the beauty and fragrance that
surrounds your life and it will spread like
beautiful wildflowers to enrich all of us.
-Poem by Tamara K Vickery