Who would I be without my friendships? Especially women, but also my male friends. All their stories, all of our shared experiences help me, lead me always to a greater understanding of our commonality. And when a friendship has been lost -and I have lost a few - it is because of a my lack of seeing, of not feeling what they were feeling at their moment of great distress. And of not understanding, until too late, how my response felt to them.