this kind of relationship is so important to the soul that many have said there is nothing more precious in life

    Someone I've known for a really, really long time has been arrested, charged with a crime that's in the realm of A Very Big Deal. We're not close, but I feel like I know him, and this news struck me hard. Is it possible to know any other person's essential character? Do we all have within us the potential to do great wrong? If we do such wrong, does that outweigh whatever good we are? Do the things about which we are certain, really matter all that much after all?
     Dinner tonight with my friend from work, The Giggler. That's a ridiculous name and I really need to come up with something different (though she calls me "the lawyer", which isn't exactly chock full of creativity). Over a BLT & cheese curds for me and a chicken strips basket for her, we hashed out all the details that we've missed over the past month: work, men, family, houses, vacations. Some gossip, some amateur psychology, a lot of laughing, and a sense that, despite all the rest, at least one part of our lives makes solid sense.
     Last night, I talked with a very dear friend. We compared a little of what's new, but mostly talked philosophically about ourselves, each other, and the "us" we've been for about twenty-five years. There are areas of life that we don't agree on, we live way too far apart, our relationship ebbs and flows...and means the world.
     Why are all roads seeming to lead to this same place lately? So much consideration of where I am, with whom I spend my time (or wish to), and what it all means. Hmmm..

[the title quotation is by Thomas Moore]