A Mile in Their Shoes

Of all of the curve balls that life has thrown my way ... one ball that has never come close to hitting me is unresolved-health-issues. Not for me. Not for my children. Though the years before dad died were traumatic, Mom took care of all of the decisions. She was a role model for strength and coping abilities. And my life went on, much the same as it always had ...

I have friends which are facing 'all of the above'.

I am lost. I don't know how to help. What to say. What to do. I don't have life experience to draw on and I am floundering.

What do you say, when there are no answers? You listen.

I talked. I talked when I should have listened.

I am on the outside, looking in. I talk with my friends the way that I have always talked. I empathize. I try to walk a mile in their shoes. But their shoes don't fit me and I take them off and walk barefoot through that-which-I-don't-understand.

I guess by walking barefoot, I am walking forward with my senses on full alert. I have no shoes to wear until I find my own.

In the mean time, my friends ... I am learning as I go. I will be all I can. I apologize when that is not enough.

I will stand beside you and be your friend.