Grey skies, friendship, and flavors of tears...

Do you ever have a feeling that the sky is grey above you, even though when you look up, the sun is brightly shining?? But your personal cloud is so grey that it almost feels black with very weak brims of light...You are scared to look at it because you fear that as soon as you do, it will pour down again with insults, misunderstanding, hurt, and despair...You go about your day with your head almost wedged in between your shoulders, dragging your feet and wondering what exactly you have done to be mistreated? You're disappointed, sad, lonely, discouraged...perhaps even embarrassed to admit that you lack real friendships in your life...I mean REAL, the ones you'd die for and for sure they'd do the same for you in a heart beat...

And just at the very moment of despair of almost literally banging your head against the wall asking "what's wrong with me??", you get an email.
You get an email from a very unexpected and surprising source.
You get an email from a husband (!!) of your long time pen pal, who simply says "thank you" for being such a good friend to his wife, who lacks genuine friendships in her life right now....
And he tells you that YOU are that one friend for her that she values so much and truly treasures.
He says "thank you" to you for always being there for his wife, even from so far away....
He says "thank you" for being a good friend to her....

And your tears of bitterness suddenly change into a downpour of happiness...You cry as hard you as you can allow yourself to do in the middle of your busy day, and you lift up your eyes, look around the room, smile, and quietly whisper: "Thank you, Lord...thank you so much for being here for me...thank you...thank you...thank you!!"

surprise mail from pen pals is always the best kind of mail