Things I know about the power of a touch

Strange when I sit and think about things that have helped me through out my life. There have been people and places and sounds and experiences that have all changed my life in some way. Some of them for the good and some just for the learning of it all.
The people of course being those that have entered my life, some for just a season and caused my world to change. Their advice or just lending an ear often rook me away from a scarey place. Places like beautiful British Columbia Canada, a place that held beauty and learning that I may never see again. Experiences of course almost always teach us something. If they don't then as the saying goes... "History will repeat itself" until you get it right.
Sounds? How could a sound change your life? I was walking in the woods one day and I heard a branch snap loudly in front of me. A black bear was crossing my path, uninterested in me, thank goodness. It wasn't the bear that changed anything for me. It was the sound of that branch snapping. I had written in a previous blog that I wanted to be an Oceanographer since I think I could walk. But life took a change and off to Canada and away from the ocean we went. But it was there that in hearing that "sound", I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I went back to my cabin, found a pencil and paper and began to write. From that sound, I wrote a 300 page novel.
These are things that touch our lives almost daily. Their touch brings to us opprtunities or new walks in our lives. Journeys that will take us around the world and back again. but thinking about the most wonderful touch, I think that would be this. You are sitting at the table drinking coffee. The love of your life is up doing things. Your mind is searching for answers and you can't seem to find one. You are a million miles away from anything. Suddenly, she comes to you and brushes her hand across your cheek. The warmth of her heart is transfered from her hand to your heart. For a moment, nothing else in this world matters but that touch. You reach up and take her hand in yours and all worries seem to disappear. A simple touch to a loved ones hand, a gentle carress that says all you can not. A caring hand on a friends shoulder. These are the touches that truly can change ones life. They can stop the saddest of sads and make you forget the thoughts that wer bothering you.
Sometimes, for no reason at all, reaching out to touch a friends hand or cheek or rub their back for a moment can mean the difference between staying... and going. That is some of what I know about the power of a touch.