The reassurance of good friends

Life has a crazy way of throwing you right over its shoulder and taking you down a road you didn't even know was there. And what a road it's been, but it's so great to come out of the shadows and into the light where you belong. You squint a little as your eyes adjust, remembering what the sun feels like against your cool face, and you begin to hear a sound you hadn't heard in such a long time. For a few seconds you don't recognize what it is and you are scared. You want to go back into the shadows since that's the only security you have known for such a long time now. But then your mind remembers...and your soul wakes up. You recognize it, faintly from somewhere long ago you recognize it. Your eyes are open now and a smile sweeps across your face as you see, for miles around, friends and loved ones applauding in front of you with arms wide open. They are cheering for miles down the road because you made it through the shadows of this dreary world and into the light once more. You fought your battles and crept through the darkness, and bitterness, and the awful times when you were sure that you couldn't take one more step. You trudged on, persevering mile after mile, and you made it to the light where they were all waiting. But you were never alone in the darkness. They were all there with you. They were there in every step, every battle you conquered, and every mile you crossed. They were there then...and they are there now.