Is love the best thing in the world? Or the worst?
Do you remember your first love? I remember mine well. The world seemed perfect. Everything was right as long as I could be with her. Do you remember your first heartbreak? I remember mine painfully well. The world seemed black and dark. I couldn’t possibly be happy again, because I couldn’t be with the one I loved. You’ve felt that way, haven’t you?
I’ve been thinking about love all week, both the good and the bad, because of an experience a friend has just gone through. He sent me a note Tuesday to tell me what happened to him and ask for advice. I’ve been slow to respond, because I’m not sure what I can say that’s useful. How can you help a man whose heart has been broken?
My friend just experienced his first love and then his first break-up. The relationship didn’t last but a couple of months, but it’s changed so much for him — and he’s left confused and hurting.
We’re going to call him Josh, but that’s not his name. He’s a smart and insightful young man, but he’s struggling to reconcile the horribly conflicting emotions that took him from an amazing high to a devastating low. He described everything that had happened and then asked, “Any advice?”

There are lessons for our lives in the joy and innocence of children
Pop culture creates overgrown kids in adult bodies who won’t grow up
A month after my father’s death, it doesn’t feel real that he’s gone
Why do presidents and candidates bother to release tax returns?
Genuine love is always extreme — and it rarely makes any sense
We all know fairy tales aren’t true, but maybe we need such illusions
‘Free money for everybody’? Is it smart for principled libertarians?
Face of a stalker? At Florida school, it’s ‘stalking’ to speak of karma