Thank You To My Friends

We shared smiles,

Tears,

Heartbreak,

and;

The pain.

I never knew friends until,

The day I met you;

Friends from my perspective,

Meant more abuse,

Not to mention being used.

I spent all of my life,

Feeling lost,

Invisible,

The shadow of a child who

did not know childhood,

The shadow of an adult who learned

To be loved meant to be abused.

I didn't understand that friendship was,

Sharing each day,

Taking each other as we are,

Talking about things,

Not feeling stupid,

Being able to laugh,

And cry,

Being able to love,

Unconditionally,

And without limits.

When I broke down,

Nobody cared,

And when I was in hospital,

Nobody was there.

Those people who abandoned me,

Were not true friends;

True friends don't hurt another,

When another is in pain.

I spent decades hiding myself

from the world,

Forgetting to dream,

Forgetting to have fun.

I hid my true feelings,

And took them out on myself,

When I was alone.

I still have the scars on my body,

I can count them,

Though,

Now they are fading.

They have no purpose,

Other than to remind me of a

painful past,

That no longer exists.

When you first came along,

I was afraid to reach out,

I'd been taught that I wasn't worth

your hand in friendship,

And that friendship always meant,

I'd be abused again.

Today;

I still feel that horrible past,

Deeply,

And I still cry,

Sometimes.

And that is ok,

To feel what I feel,

But;

It's also ok to have friends who

love you.

So;

Today,

Dear friends,

I have a message I want to share with

you.

Thank you;

For laughing, crying, and sharing my pain,

Because,

Friends like you taught me to learn how

to live again.

This poem goes out to everybody who shared my tears over the years of abuse that I endured. It also goes out to everyone here, including the wonderful admin and staff who have been reading my work, and continue to follow me on my journey, as I continue to rebuild my dreams, and my life.

I have a shout out to someone who we all know really well here. A writer who I am now friends with on facebook, even if life gets in the way and stops me from talking as much as I'd like to.

This person writes about a topic that I am most passionate about, music. I love the way he sets his work to music, and he is an amazing writer.

He is also a deeply, friendly person who loves sharing his passion with the world. He is Mike Singleton, and I'm sure that you will enjoy his stories as much as I do.

I am deeply grateful to the many writers here who read my work, and look out for me.

It's not easy being a writer, and though I have done it since I was a child, I am still learning as I go along.

I think in writing, we go on a journey of learning, writing and repeat.

It's thanks to Vocal, that I created my first short paperback 'Please Stay.' You will find that link in my bio.

I am writing other books, and I'm still working on 'Carrie In Love.'

It's been really difficult getting it together, these last few years but I promise I won't give up.

I was supposed to have released my first cover song over the last few months, but I was just recovering from illness, then we went straight from that, to urgently having to move, so sadly that has been put on hold for a little while longer.

I can't say thank you enough. Friends taught me that my life is worth living, and my writer and reader friends here extended that by 100%!

Thank you so much, for helping me to change my life. Not one single person who has helped me, will ever be forgotten for that.