the wounded angels.

who have courageously

shared with me your stories…

You have touched my life in ways that

I can't possibly express,

and that you cannot imagine…

I have wept in your presence

in spite of the years of training

that cautioned me to be objective,

and to be still,

and to hide myself from you

while at the same time drawing you out…

They taught me that you were damaged

and that I would need to fix you…

I learned from you

that while you might be wounded,

you were still beautiful

and wise, and whole…

possessing healing tools of your own…

You so often believed

that yours was a story of pain,

of despair, and of failure...

Together we discovered that yours

was a story of courage, of survival,