When I was a kid, my parents told me never to associate myself with strangers because they are bad people and would just do me harm instead of good. It was years later that I learned it was the opposite. How ironic it is that strangers would be more like my family and my family would be more like strangers to me. For it was strangers that gave me comfort when I was abused by my parents and my ex girlfriend. It was strangers that got me through my darkest episodes when I thought all was lost. It was strangers that showed me that life can be beautiful and be filled with good things. They helped me become a better man for myself and for the people around me. They supported me, helped me stand when all I wanted to do was lie down and give up. This group of people have done more for me than anyone could ever fathom. A stranger saved my life when my own parents could not. Thanks to them, I am better now and I am prepared to go further than they have gone for me because these "strangers" aren’t strangers, they are my friends and I love them.

Numbing chill
Amongst the gale
Ice cold breath
Trembling still
Heart be lost
Buried in snow
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Tundras melt
Icebergs weep
Fingerlike rays
Warm on skin
Breath of life
Thaws a heart
Found by a beacon