October 4th, 2006, 7:21 am

Thank you for being a friend

I stretch out my arms.

Strong.

Capable.

Tanned from the Portuguese sun.

A fine film of salt from the Atlantic, crumbling off smooth shoulders.

A gimmer of last night’s eyeshadow, smudged on my left gun.

I stretch out my arms here in Lagos, Portugal, feeling firm, strong roots.

I am strong because of you.

Words fail me, leads crumble, paragraphs delete, rewriting and rewriting just can’t get it across.

So let me be direct: to everyone who has supported me on this journey - I love you so much.

Sentences from your emails, bits of your blog comments, IM conversations - your words feed me, ground me, root me.

I couldn’t feel stronger and more confident than I do here with you - my talented army of friends.

How can one girl meet so many amazing people?

My offering is humble - my words aren’t enough.

Thank you.

p.s. Although I am super serious, I couldn’t resist the Golden Girls reference for the title. Sorry =.