A letter to friend:

Just wanted to thank you for letting me tell a story I’ve told only to myself and not even on paper (!) until I told you yesterday.  It was a great relief to tell of that experience.

I’m so aware that it’s a violation of the social credo – to tell something shocking about another person – but the event rocked my world, especially those moments when we looked at each other afterward.

Somehow, it seems more real, more able to integrate, to have someone else hear it and not find it impossible or unlikely, but totally understandable, and maybe only a shock and tragedy in the social context, of which I’m a part!

So, I conclude, as I think I did yesterday:  Compassion all around.  No blame to others.  Just realize what I need to realize.  Adapt, and continue to bloom.