the gift of us

There is a quiet kind of wealth in growing older-

in knowing who to keep, and who to hold closer

not measured in fortune, or things we acquire

but in friends who still meet us where our hearts desire

The ones who have witnessed the years as they came

the changes, the losses, the joy and the flame

who know who we were, yet still love who we are

and somehow make ordinary moments feel like stars

We’ve laughed through the chapters, we’ve weathered the rain

discovered reasons for joy and grown wiser through pain

and somewhere between all the living we do

we’ve gathered these beautiful friendships so true

So here’s to the laughter, the memories made

the stories that somehow get better with age

to embracing the moments, the joy and the living

and loving this life for the gifts it keeps giving

For perhaps the best measure of all we’ve been through

is having a handful of souls who still choose you

and if this is what the passing years have to impart—

I’ll take the what time brings, and keep the full heart.