Debet, I'm so sorry.

Steph, Tim knows you're there for him and his family, and he also knows your strengths, and that you're human. Be strong when you can, and allow yourself to cry if you need to. All peace and comfort to all of you today.

Debet, I'm so sorry. May the rest of her time be gentle, pain-free, and happy.

Debet, I am so, so, sorry.

Steph- good luck getting through today.

So sorry, DebetEsse. Sending strength to you, and also to you, Steph.

Happy Imperial Birthday, Aims!

Fred Pete, Belated Birthday wishes! I hope it was happy. And that the upcoming year is a good one!

I woke up this morning wanting very badly to walk down to the campo and watch Palio heats under the sun, whole gazing up at the campanille of Palazzo Pubblico. I am REALLY missing Siena today.

Hugs to Debet and Steph.

Happy happy birthday, Aims. I love you.

I love you, baby.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. It was a quiet birthday.

Thank you, everyone. I've done what I need to at the office today, so I'm going to go home and hang out in the basement with the kitty.

Yesterday I met up with an old friend from when I was an undergraduate. It's been at least eight years since I last saw her. Neither of us has changed all that much - except I came out and met The Girl within the last eight years. She's still a very evangelical Christian, whereas I've become far more liberal, and not only because of coming out. She was clearly struggling with it, but the fact that neither of us felt any need to 'persuade' the other was a good thing. She at one point said how she has her own "temptations". And I had to say that actually, I'm in a committed, permanent and soon-to-be-official-under-law relationship with another person, and I didn't think that exactly fell under the category of 'temptation'. While I'm mostly OK that some people think I'm a sinner, as long as they know they are too, I also find it frustrating that their relationships are holy while mine is evil. Ultimately, that's where I have trouble with the 'love the sinner' stuff. I'm a terrible sinner. But The Girl is one thing I got right.

Seska posted this a couple days ago, but I just wanted to repeat it because it's a beautiful way of saying something very important.

Debet, I'm so sorry. I hope the time you have left with Maggie is good for both of you.

Steph, you have all my sympathy for what you are going through. Mark said something to me the other day, when I was on another crying jag and apologizing for burdening him with my own grief on top of his, to the effect of: "I don't need you to be strong. I just need you to be here." And I'm sure Tim feels similarly. What he really needs is for you to be there with him. That's it; that's what counts.