Tides of life

There are lots of people who come and go in our lives; kind of ebbing in for a time and then flowing back out into the sea of humanity.  Some come back again and again; some find a port that offers what they need or want so they put down their anchor; some find comfort or shelter or safety in our cove while others float on to wherever the tide takes them, waiting to be washed ashore.  Some of those folks make important footprints on the sands of our lives.  The next tide may fill those prints with sand but the lessons they taught us are stamped in our mind.  Others leave bits of themselves behind on the pebbly beach that we find after they've gone...tokens gathered to remind us of someone that touched our hearts.  Memories of some are quickly forgotten in the tide of new faces but others are forever remembered whether we meet again or not.  Those who choose to put down their anchor in our lives and come ashore give us a gift that we should cherish always.  On the beach, you will sometimes see the signs of our journey, side by side with friends and family that make us into the folks we are today but many times we are alone.  (Insert Footprints poem here.)
When terrific storms come along that would pull us into deep water, we have to hold tight to the anchors that we've put down in the little cove of our life.  (Insert The Anchor Holds here)
But underneath the shifting sands of tide washed shores we need a solid rock where we can build our history.  (Insert Solid Rock here)
What I started out to write here was that some people who come into our lives leave their mark on us.  Sometimes as treasures and sometimes as scars. Sadly, to be cliché, "we always hurt the ones we love."  Why is that?  Is it because we want to make them better people?  Are we better people when we're with them?  Or is it because we are protecting ourselves?  Maybe it's because they want to go and we want them to stay. Or maybe it's because deep down inside, we're afraid. 
We have little control over the tide and what it brings to our lives so the only thing we can do is be ready and waiting to accept what comes our way and hang on to the people and things that make a difference.