And gaze at the valley below...it's beauty and splender,
My thoughts drift off...then return...
And I smile as I remember........
The path and the journey I have travelled,
Just to be here in your world,
This land of yours, so far from mine,
And the memories unfurl.
A year ago, my life was a mess,
I was depressed, alone and sad.
I tried this thing called .. "The Internet"
IRC... #ANYAGE+FRIENDS, and I was glad.
I met some wonderful people,
You were the first to welcome me,
And in a while we became firm friends,
A FACT... not just fantasy.
And in the coming months,
When times were hard for both,
We were good friends for each other
In the times we needed friends most.
We battled through our problems,
And I remember that you once said...,
"If you need a place to hide awaay,
Up here, you've always got a bed".
Then came the time, things got too hard
And I knew I had to get away,
So I made my plans to visit you
Using all that I had saved for "that rainy day".
I'm sitting in the airplane
People saying "You must be nuts"
"Staying with a stranger"
And "Boy you must have guts".
But in my heart, I somehow knew
That I had nothing to fear,
Cause in the time that we've been talking,
Two friends had grown quite near.
You welcomed me with open arms.
For once I didn't feel alone.
I'd come so far across the world,
But somehow it felt like home...
The past four weeks have been for me,
Some of the best times of my life.
I've met so many people ... some weird
And some as funny as can be.
And then I have met a few
That have come to mean so much to me
And now it's time to pack my bags
And make that journey home,
But in my heart I have my friends
And now I'll never be alone....
As I gaze back at the mountains
With their covering of early snow,
I turn and head back to the truck,
And I know I have to go.
The sadness that I'm filled with
Makes these words so hard to say,
So I've put them down on paper,
But the pain still won't fade away.
To you Deb,... you've given me, strength and courage
That I didn't know I had.
And I feel that to you I will always be indebted,
And not once in these last four weeks, have I regretted
That impulsive decision to travel the globe
And stay with some I had never met.
I am no longer alone.
I now take with me a head full of memories and a heart full of warmth and love.
And when you too, need an escape,
You know where to come. You will always be welcomed with open arms
Down my part of the world....
Thank you Deb for your friendship, from the bottom of my heart.
Your "Buddy"
Steph
Rosebudd
5th September,1998.
