The most important friendships in life are ones that are built on solid foundations. A real and true friendship is a relationship in which one person shares his or her life experiences with another. Mistakes are made and unloving things are sometimes said, but a friendship that has a solid foundation will not crumble. I believe that there are some friendships that span centuries of lives, and these should never be easily thrown away! The virtues of understanding, forgiveness, and love is the cornerstone of these friendships. Never will they truly end…….sometimes they change shape………..never will they end!

-S.L.

“I define friendship as a bond that transcends all barriers. When you are ready to expect anything and everything from friends, good, bad or ugly… that’s what I call true friendship.“

Life is an ever-changing sea of events, troubles, celebrations, and milestones of one kind or another. I have only been on this earth for 23 years, but I felt like I have lived through a long age of transitions. Change is the theme that marks the journey I have lived. An amazing thought indeed to think on all the paths that have led me to my current state. One different choice here or there could have drastically altered my present reality for good or bad, and that is a very sobering thought! I have started out this year of 2015 with many endings and beginnings. I graduated college with a degree in History; a task that consumed me for the past four and a half years. I quit a job that I had worked since 2009, and most importantly I met my soulmate!

I thought the most important day of my life was the day I graduated college! I worked so hard over that 4 years that I was really in a state of shock when graduation finally came! The graduation was held in a massive church with a huge auditorium. The majority of my family and friends sat in the audience yelling words of love, encouragement, and embarrassment as they had done for the years of patience, hard work, and diligence it had taken to reach that point. It was the best feeling I experienced in my whole life……I thought!

While I was in High school I “dated” here and there, but never experienced what I thought to be love. However, my “dating” days came to a swift end when I went through the period in my life I like to call my “religious days!” I had made up my mind to become a Roman Catholic priest. I felt like I had been called by God to live the single life, and I resolved myself to do exactly that! This particular dream went on until my senior year in high school. It was this point in my life that I really started thinking about what I wanted to do versus what God wanted me to do. I had come to a crossroads. One path led me to a religious life that would be dictated by superiors; the other allowed to me to seek God on my own. I chose the latter and it has made all the difference! I chose to seek a degree in History for two reasons; one being that I wanted to truly learn about the histories of the different cultures around the world. The second being that I felt like if I had an unbiased approach to learning, it would be a more authentic path to God. However, the years passed and I stopped going to church. I had always felt a deep spiritual connection with the Catholic Mass, but my spiritual advisor (a priest named Father Felix) had left my Parish after many years. I felt like I could no longer spiritually grow without him guiding me, and I had many questions that could not be answered by a person with Catholic bias. I distanced myself from God; something I greatly regret and appreciate at the same time. I had a hole on my heart due to the distance, but I was also able to look at he world with an unbiased eye for a few years. I learned many things about many ideas, people, places, and most importantly myself. I prayed constantly that God would have me back, and that he would show me what he wanted of me! …………I met my soulmate!

I never dated very much because I didn’t understand the point! In light of choosing to “86” the religious life, my friends always wanted to “hook me up” with one person or another. I always told them that I would not date anyone unless I thought I could marry them! Years passed and I met a few individuals who had “potential,” but never anyone who I would ever truly consider. My friends would say “you are too picky!” and “you will end up alone if you are not careful!” I know they were truly concerned for me, but I was not going to settle! It was my whole life that I had to share with this person and I was not willing to give up my personal happiness just for the sake of getting married and appeasing everyone! I resolved myself to never get married and focus on my career path. Boy was I wrong!

One day I was over at my friends house and he told me that a few sisters were coming over to join us and our friends at a campfire. I though ” ok cool I like meeting new people.” I promise I did not know the significance of this night until long after! They arrived and it was sort of awkward because they only knew my friend, and it it always awkward to meet new people. All three girls were extremely nice, but I felt oddly drawn toward the oldest sister. She seemed different than most girls, and that greatly appealed to me! The night was great and I learned that she had the best sort of personality. I’m not going to say it was “love at first sight,” because it was not. I did however want to get to know her better! Over the course of the next year we became really good friends! My friend started dating the youngest of “The Canadians” as they would later be known as. I thank God for this, because after that point we started hanging out on a weekly basis as a group! We played games, ate great food, visited with family and friends, traveled, and had very deep spiritual and intellectual discussions! I realized rather early in the friendship that this girl could be my soulmate. I could not get her off my mind! What made this so difficult is that I knew she didn’t date and had no plans of doing so. It pained me to think that I could never be with her, but I settled to be good friends! Boy was I wrong!

God has a way of helping us to understand our full potential and destiny if we are open to him! I was praying that she would be apart of my life, and God did not disappoint! It was New Years celebration that changed everything! We had a good day filled with food, nerf gun wars, and celebration with The Canadians and their family. When the celebration was ended I gave her mom and sister a ride back to their house! On the way to their house I gathered my courage and decided to inquire whether or not the mom and sister had any insight as to the possibly of dating “K.” I explained to them my feelings, and they “spilled the beans” and informed me that “K” was interested in me! My heart soared! I had never felt so good in my entire life! That includes graduation! It was a day or two later that “K’s” mother informed me that she had talked to her and that she would date me if I asked her. I am not ashamed to admit at the point that I became emotional! I always thought I would be alone, but now I realized I might have a chance to truly find happiness! We started dating on a Monday, and it has been an interesting adventure thus far! “K” and I have striking similarities in our personality, beliefs, and mannerisms. We hold a connection that I believe is only discovered once in a lifetime! I decided after discovering this and seeing some pretty powerful messages from the big man upstairs that I would focus my energy on this adventure! We are always perfectly honest with each other about our beliefs, opinions, dreams, aspirations, and plans. We have made plans together that will hopefully unfold in the near future! We hope to travel and experience what life truly has to offer! ……..I cannot express my happiness in words! God has a plan for everything, so I promise it is futile to do what YOU want! However, it has been my experience that what God has planned for me is ten times better than anything I could have planned for myself! We shall see how this story unfolds…………Inshallah

-S.L.

The following poems are styled after the “Haiku,” but I brake the rules of 5-7-5 to meet my needs. So really the only thing Haiku about them is the subject matter.

Rain Drops

Rain drops down
Upon the plain,
Lily rises up,
From the grave.

Depression

Dark cloud arrives
And never leaves,
Blotting out the Sun,
All hope for trees.

Talking to God

Prayers rise up,
Within loud chants,
Retorts rain down,
In pools of silence.

-SL

I am the master receptacle of human devotion,
The years are measured on my face.
My soul is geared for the passage
And I am wound to passing.
I am chained to my subjects
And bathed by my attendants.
I am the master and the servant,
I am the counselor and the undertaker.
My hands turn with the wheel
And map the seasons.
As long as the wheel turns,
I shall live.

– S.K. Liles