Stand.

There is a time to build bridges.

Mostly, I want life to be about building bridges.
About construction. Creating friendships. Helping hands and neo-Amish gatherings.

There's also a time to burn bridges.
When the time comes to burn a bridge,
sometimes you want people next to you to throw some gasoline.

You wanna know they've got your back.

To get mad,
even if only for a few moments when supportive fuming is what you need.

No matter how rational a person you are:
No matter how logical you want to think you are:
No matter how kind and empathetic of a person you want to be:

There is a point when you want someone next to you
to share in your feelings.

If that emotion is rage: let there be communal rage.
It will pass.

But to pass through those emotions with people standing by you:

: front
: back
: surrounded.

That is a beautiful thing.

Ben E. King articulated it beautifully in his 1961 classic Stand by Me.

"Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me"

The only issue I have, of course, would be with the line "I won't shed a tear."
There is a time to shed tears. And in those times, I want people surrounding me to shed tears too.

Thank you, Mr. King, for writing the greatest song ever. It gets better every year.

Thank you. To those who stand by.

For standing by.

Happy birthday, my Jonny.

Nothing more needs to be said (see above).

____

Ben E. King
Stand by Me
Don't Play That Song!
1962