# 4 ...a soft place to fall

July 3, 2007 Recently some friends and I were having lunch and a dear and wise friend of mine stated: "All of us need a soft place to fall." Her remark was in the context of her young adult son's skiing accident and his subsequent death. She remarked: "I cried on the floor of my living room for 3 weeks straight when I heard of his death. I could not move, go to work, make phone calls, fix meals, get groceries, take care of my animals, go to meetings...all I could do was just cry and cry and cry. And it was the many wonderful women and their friendships who held me up...and let me have a soft place to fall." I thought what a wonderful metaphor. We all need that don't we??? Mother Teresa once stated that the greatest disease in America is not Cancer or Heart Disease, but loneliness. I'd like to add : "and the lack of ...a soft place to fall."