A short speech I gave at a Junior Chamber function in Fremantle in 1998.
Around the corner I have a friend
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and the weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone
And I never see my old friend's face,
For life is a swift and terrible race.
Yet, he knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell,
And he rang mine. We were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men
Tired of playing a foolish game
Tired of trying to make a name
"Tomorrow", I say, "I’ll call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner! … yet miles away,
Here's a telegram sir - "Jim died today."
And that's what we get,
and deserve in the end.
Around the corner,
a vanished friend.
[Src: Around The Corner by Henson Towne]
"I received this poem in December last year just two days after a close friend suddenly died.
His death and this poem opened my eyes to how we take our friendships for granted. How we replace life’s important tasks with life’s urgent chores, and then regret those lost moments of pleasure.
Society conditions us to anticipate a busy life in which we run out of time for the things that are important and that our friends will wait, patiently, last in line behind the rest of our life.
Perhaps a true friend will wait, but would you? Or would you continue in your busy lifestyle, placing them at the back of your line?"
A friend is one who believes in you
when you have ceased to believe in yourself.
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart
and can sing it to you when you have forgotten the words.
A real friend is one who walks in when
the rest of the world walks out.
[Author(s) unknown]
"I wasn’t close to my friend, not as close as I could have been. I certainly took more than I gave, always thinking I would make it up later ... when I had some time. But I ran out of time.
The funeral service overflowed, I did not realise the extent to which he had shared his friendship, and yet he always had time for me."
Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some people move our souls to dance.
They awaken us to new understanding
with the passing whisper of their wisdom
Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
They stay in our lives for a while,
leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever, the same.
[by Flavia Weedn]
"Set aside some friendship building time and place it in your diary just as you would any other important task your busy life requests. Make time to stay in contact and be available 24 hours a day to those who need your ear.
And at the end of the day, when you get that telegram saying Jim is dead, you will look back and be glad that you shared that small moment just yesterday."
