Poem Section Introductions INTRO The series of poems you are about to read are windows into occurrences that happened throughout my life, and are glimpses of events & times that are relent to my journey. These poems depict the events as they happened and are snapshots of my feelings, thoughts, and the impact on my life at the time that the event sparked the inspiration for the poem. These are not standalone poems, but are linked as they tell a story. BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS In all my relationships, my goal has always been to foster an amenable environment going forward, whenever the relationship has not worked out. With the exception of a couple of them, that has been accomplished. The couple of cases that this has not happened were times it was out of my ability to accomplished that goal. In all of them, there was always the element of love, there were great times together, and there was always support & encouragement for them to reach for their goals and dreams. I still care about all of them. And even though there were rocky times as well, there was also great memories made. It is those rocky times and those good times that were the inspiration for these poems. HARDSHIPS AND STRUGGLES With hardship comes growth. It's never easy to go through the pain of a broken relationship, death of a friend or loved one, or the loss of a job. It is sometimes hard to see a positive path ahead out of that event. But it is what you do with what you have left that will dictate how the rest of your life will continue. LOVE AND HOPE The previous section was about the difficulties we face in our lives, and it's negative impact emotionally. This section is about the hope we have in our hearts for better days ahead, in light of the darkness we feel in our most depressed state of mind, when faced with mental hardships and struggles, however they were brought on. FAMILY AND FRIENDS These are the people in our lives that truly sustain us and lift us up. They are often the lifeline to our healing. They are so often the life-blood to our existence. I am blessed with an amazing family, and have accumulated a valuable cache of friends along my journey. Some of those friends have been long term, while some have been for just a fleeting moment. There have been both joyous times and sad times with all of them. I try to bring out my feelings in these poems, at the time each occurred or came to mind. HUMOR One of the best remedies when experiencing the feeling of sadness, hopelessness, and depression is humor. There have been plenty of moments along my journey when humor helped bring me out of a slump brought on by those negative feelings. THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS I've been a runner for many years, and use my running time to think and observe the world around me. I run really early in the morning, so rarely run into others during my run, and I never run with music in my ear. I use that time to plan and reflect.