•Someone who will support you no matter what.

•Someone you can trust and who won't judge you.

•Someone who won't put you down or deliberately hurt your feelings, but will show kindness and respect.

•Someone who will love you not because they feel they have to because you're their friend, but because they choose to.

•Someone whose company you enjoy and whose loyalty you can depend upon.

•Someone who will be there no matter what your situation is.

•Someone who is trustworthy and not afraid to tell you the truth, no matter how hard it is sometimes.

•Someone who can laugh when you laugh.

•Someone who will stick around when things get rough.

•Someone who makes you smile.

•Someone who can accept you for who you are, and just lend you an ear when you need to whine or complain.

•Someone who will cry when you cry.

•Someone who will give you room to change

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint, which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark.

No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVD’s, no Internet chat rooms.

We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and rounder’s, and sometimes that ball really hurt!

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no lawsuits.

We had full on fistfights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us.

We walked to friends' homes.

We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...They actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us?

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening...and it might put a Smile on your face:

The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986...They are called youth.

They have never heard of we are the World, We are the children, and the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.

They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nina Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.

For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.

AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.

They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year.

They can never imagine life before computers.

They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, Red Hand Gang or the Famous Five.

They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix it or Why Don't You.

They can't believe a black and white television ever existed.

And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we'

A handsome, middle-aged man walked quietly into the cafe and sat down.
Before he ordered, he couldn't help but notice a group of younger men at the table next to him.
It was obvious they were making fun of something about him, and it wasn't until he remembered he
was wearing a small pink ribbon on the lapel of his suit that he became aware of what the joke was all about.

The man brushed off the reaction as ignorance, but the smirks began to get to him.
He looked one of the rude men square in the eye, placed his hand beneath the ribbon and asked, quizzically,
This?'



With that the men all began to laugh out loud.
The man he addressed said, as he fought back laughter,
'Hey, sorry man, but we were just commenting on how pretty your pink ribbon looks against your blue jacket!'
The middle aged man calmly motioned for the joker to come over to his table and invited him to sit down.
The guy obliged, not really sure why. In a soft voice, the middle aged man said,
'I wear this ribbon to bring awareness about breast cancer. I wear it in my mother's honour.'
'Oh, sorry dude. She died of breast cancer?'
'No, she didn't. She's alive and well. But her breasts nourished me as an infant and were a soft resting place for my
head when I was scared or lonely as a little boy.
I'm very grateful for my mother's breasts and her health.'
'Umm,' the stranger replied, 'Yeah.'

'And I wear this ribbon to honour my wife', the middle aged man went on.
'And she's okay, too?' the other guy asked.




'Oh, yes. She's fine. Her breasts have been a great source of loving pleasure for both of
us and with them she nurtured and nourished our beautiful daughter 23 years ago.
I am grateful for my wife's breasts, and for her health.'
'Uh huh. And I guess you wear it to honour your daughter, also?'




'It's too ! late to honour my daughter by wearing it now.
My daughter died of breast cancer one month ago.
She thought she was too young to have breast cancer, so when she accidentally noticed a small lump, she ignored it.



She thought that since it wasn't painful, it must not be anything to worry about.'
Shaken and ashamed, the now sober stranger said, 'Oh, man, I'm so sorry mister.'
'So, in my daughter's memory, too, I proudly wear this little ribbon, which allows me the opportunity to enlighten others.

Now, go home and talk to your wife and your daughters, your mother and your friends.
And here,' the middle-aged man reached in his pocket and handed the other man a little pink ribbon.
The guy looked at it, slowly raised his head and asked, 'Can ya help me put it on?'

This is breast cancer awareness month.
Do regular breast self-exams and encourage those women you love to do the same.
Please send this ! on to anyone you would like to remind of the importance of breast cancer awareness.

A CANDLE LOSES NOTHING BY LIGHTING ANOTHER CANDLE.
PLEASE KEEP THIS CANDLE GOING!




This one I do ask that you send on