Portrait of a Friend 
Author Unknown 
   
I can’t give solutions to all of your 
life’s problems, doubts, or fears. 
But I can listen to you, and together 
we will search for the answers. 
I can’t change your past with 
all it’s heartache and 
pain, nor the future 
with it’s untold stories. 
 
But I can be there now when you 
need me to care. 
I can’t keep your feet 
from stumbling. 
I can only offer my hand that you 
may grasp it and not fall.   
Your joys, triumphs, successes, and 
happiness are not mine; 
 
Yet I can share in 
your laughter.   
Your decisions in life are not mine 
to make, nor to judge; 
I can only support you, encourage you, 
and help you when you ask.   
I can’t prevent you from falling away from 
friendship, from your values, from me. 
 
I can only pray for you, talk to you 
and wait for you.   
I can’t give you boundaries that I 
have determined for you, 
But I can give you the room to change, 
room to grow, room to be yourself.   
I can’t keep your heart from 
breaking and hurting, 
 
But I can cry with you and help you pick up 
the pieces and put them back in place.   
I can’t tell you 
who you are. 
 
I can only love you
and be your friend.