By PATTIE MIHALIK

newsgirlcomcast.netA while back Robert Fulghum wrote a little essay that packed a big wallop round the world. He called it, "All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten."Some of what he wrote:"All I really know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school."These are a few of the things he says he learned in kindergarten that are still words to live by:Share everything.Say you're sorry when you hurt someone.Clean up your own mess.Live a balanced life learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day. Be aware of wonder.When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.After he concludes his wonderful essay, he ends it by repeating a thought:"And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."Fulghum is a learned man with a brilliant mind. As a renowned pastor, he's delivered plenty of sermons. But what he remains best known for is his simple little poem that was turned into a simple little book a book that sold millions. I bought a few myself to give to friends.This week, I've been recalling the ending of the book:"The older I get, the more I believe we need to hold hands, stick together and be there for each other."I so relate to that. The older I get, the more I, too, believe in the need to hold hands, stick together and be there for each other. It sounds simplistic, but I think it's a grand plan for living.For the past two weeks, those words have been on my mind as I try to make sense of a friend's devastating news.In July I was with her at a surprise birthday party her husband put together for her 60th birthday. I got a kick out of watching him at the party. When he looked at his wife across the room, he beamed like a kid seeing a pile of presents on Christmas morning.It's clear to all of us that his wife is the light of his life.A few months after the party they got the news that light is going out. My friend has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. So far, the inevitable paralysis has taken away the use of her left hand and arm. But doctors leveled with her in telling her grim future."Their tests said it will next spread to my other arm, then my leg. Signs of it are there already. What will I do when I can't use my arms?" she asks.She knows the disease is always fatal. She hasn't come to terms with that, much less with the horrific way the muscle destroying disease will progress.I pray and pray and pray for her. Those of us who love her will follow Fulghum's words. We will hold hands and stick together.I thought about those words again when we had a bit of an emergency situation while my husband and I we were out biking. We had only ridden about 8 miles when he suddenly stopped and said he couldn't breathe. Resting didn't help.At the time we were in a remote area away from civilization. Worse yet, I didn't have my cellphone with me to call for help, and his physical distress kept getting worse.After more rest, we slowly pushed our bikes until we came to a Harley dealership. David was still having trouble breathing but wouldn't let me call 911.He told me to go back to get the car then come for him. But the car was almost an hour away.When I saw a small pickup pull into the parking lot, I went up to the young woman who was driving and said I had an emergency and needed help getting back to my car.It was her birthday and she and her boyfriend were on their way to dinner. But they dropped their plans to help us.Don't tell me there aren't guardian angels among us. The boyfriend put our bikes in the back of the pickup, and they drove us to our car, staying with us to make sure we made it home.When we got home the health crisis was averted after David used his inhaler. We are coming to grips with the fact that we are getting older and are vulnerable to heath problems we never faced before.David will undergo tests to determine what's causing his breathing problem.Meanwhile, we will do the only thing we can do: We will hold hands and stick together, no matter what comes along."Remember that photo you gave me for our wedding?" asked David. "Now, that's us."The photo was of an elderly couple, each carrying one end of a basket. Alone, neither could carry it, but together they could manage.Fulghum was right. The best way to go through life is to hold hands, stick together and hang on.