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?”

Do great dreams really come true or do they just serve to haunt us?
Donald Trump is an evil man, but his political enemies are evil, too
Does your life feel wasted so far? Maybe your best is yet to come
Not satire this time: In New Zealand, one model cries discrimination
‘Please do not adjust your set’
I can’t get over this terrible feeling that I need to talk to you on video
Santa checked his list twice — and some of you’ve been naughty
Goodbye, Mother
Why is it ‘isolationism’ to oppose killing those who didn’t attack us?