GUEST BLOGGER - SARAH EDWARDS - TO JO JO

I Like You

I like you because of this and that......because of what you don't and do
but most because of who you are.....through and through

When there is a chance of happiness (or ice cream) in the air....
you say "yes! Let's go for it". As if "yes" were the most natural of words

I like you because you are yes-y and brave
and because, left up to my own devices, I can be a big chicken about life
"Yes, you can" you always say..............

You help me to balance life, and I help you to do the same
When hard rain falls, I hold an umbrella for you
and when the future gets foggy, you hold hopeful signs for me

We're friends, and I like you yesterday, today, and tomorrow too

Some days we act shady in the shade
and other days, we open up in the sun
Most days, we just go on and on.......

Sometimes, we dress up in dressy clothes and dangerous shoes
and go out with disastrous men in cowboy boots and seersucker suits
and, although we don't say anything bad at the time............
afterwards, we laugh very hard about our worst dates and bad mistakes!

I like being friends with you when the rain pitter-patters the roof
and when the daffodils pop
I like being friends with you when the snow is good for making snowballs,
and we make piles to hide behind and throw at Millie the dog when she walks by......

But sometimes I just like to be alone,
and that's OK because you like to be alone too

But then we always get bored and you come and knock on my door and say
"come out, come out, wherever you are..........."
and I like that too

Sometimes I feel grumpy and ugly, and then we go out shopping for silly hats
because silliness is a lifesaver

You help me forget about myself and remember the bigger picture

Sometimes we like to chum around in boats
Well, I like that more than you do, but you come along for the ride
(even though I ask you to carry the bait)
and even though you don't like water so much "Yuck" you say "yuck" "Yuck"
But you come anyway
and later, I go on the ferris wheel with you.......even though I don't like heights
not one little bit at all
and after, we both feel stretched thin
"Whew!!" we say, being friends can be tiring

Sometimes we don't see each other for a long, long time
I'm on the island of leave me alone, and you're in the city of work work work
or one of us is lost in the city of so-in-love
But I know that if I had a sad something happen to me you would zoom to my side
and you would make a nice cup of tea and we would sip-sip all hokey-yokey like little old ladies
and you would say "uh-huh...........ummmmmmmm, I know, I know....." sort of words
that would fall all around me like rain on a lake
because you understand how peaceful rain on a lake sounds
and, if you ever fell into a big hole, you know I wouldn't say "that's that!" and walk away

NO WAY

I would climb down to help you even if there was only a rope ladder (I don't like rope ladders)
and I would help you up

Everyone knows you can't leave a friend in a big hole

and I know that if I ever got lost at sea, you would look for me
even though the ocean is big, you would say "you are not as lost as you think you are"
and you would be right

But being friends with you isn't all peaches and cream
There are days I truly dislike your ways, and the way you truffle into your snuffles
Sometimes you think I'm not so sporty either
Then I think, who needs friends anyway? I don't have the time or energy for that stuff.....
Hmm, hmm, hm.......I think, life is so peaceful, but peaceful isn't all it's cracked up to be
Alot of things suddenly seem out of balance, and the world seems somehow harder
and after a while it begins to make no sense at all
Sometimes we talk and talk to make it all OK again, or you bump into me in the cereal aisle
and we say "hi-hi", I missed you boo-hoo and it all melts away to nothing

Because friendship is bigger than everything
and we say "let's not lose touch again!" and we nod, but we don't really mean it, because we're just us (not some icky-perfect-goody-two-shoes people who smile all the time and never get mad) - we have flaws and fizzles and foibles - we're friends

I like your true (and kooky) colours - you like my big and moody heart
I like you when we act like kids on the swings
and you like me when we're wicked as witches on Halloween
and we'll be friends until the end of always..................
because liking is a thing that grows and grows (even through the hard parts)

(by Sandy Gingras)