I have three friends suffering right now. Their stories are all distinct, and in truth I don’t know the whole of any of them, but I know enough to see and hear that they are in pain. Family, self, struggle. We all have things that weigh upon us more heavily than they might others, but it’s in those shifts and varying colors that the true beauty of each of us lives.

I find myself wishing I had just the right thing to say, the perfect gesture to make or the power to fix it. Instead I try to be steady in my presence.

A few days ago I caught a glimpse of something in the sky that tickled at my subconscious. It felt like I was achieving an understanding of something that had until that very moment eluded me. I wanted to save it for a time when it would make sense. Today it hit me.

It’s cockeyed and taken without a professional eye, but viewed through the eye of the friend, it’s the perspective that despite the murkiness of the clouds or the darkness of the forest, there is a great, wide expanse of blue.

Today, to me, it seems to say that it’s going to be ok.

Wishing blue skies, puffy clouds and protective trees upon my sweet friends.