◎ Tamara K. Vickery

If good friends fell from the sky like raindrops, I’d turn my umbrella upside down and have all that I need.

But friends do not come to us that way, instead they shoot up through the ground from a tiny seed of common interest, are cultivated with good times and grow into a beautiful flower to enjoy that continues to bloom as long as it is cared for.

These flowers of friendship are gathered into a fragrant bouquet that enhances the world around us and are meant to be enjoyed by ourselves as well as to bring cheer or comfort to others.

Like flowers, friendships also go through changes, sometimes they are allowed to die, but if you care for them well and tend them with a gentle touch, they will continue to build roots in new places and bloom for years of enjoyment.

When you have found a friend such as this, you will know by the beauty and fragrance that surrounds your life, and it will spread like beautiful wildflowers to enrich all of us.

如果好朋友像雨滴一样从天而降，我会翻转我的雨伞，接住我所需要的一切。

但朋友不是以这种方式来到我们身边的，他们从一粒很小的、有趣的普通种子开始，穿过地面飙升，在你的精心耕种和培育下，成长为一朵美丽的花朵，并不断繁荣茂盛。

这些友谊的花朵聚集一起，变成一束芬芳的花束，令我们周围的世界熠熠生辉，带给我们快乐和舒适，也令他人感到温馨慰藉。

就像花朵一样，友谊也会生变，有时它们也会死去，但只要你精心照料，温柔地呵护，它们将会在新的地方生根、开花，带给我们快乐幸福的时光。

当你找到了这种友谊，你就会知道，这种美丽和芬芳将环绕着你的生命，像艳丽的野花一样传播漫延，丰富我们所有的人。