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?”

UPDATE: Judge drops charges against Diane Tran; $100,000 raised
Was life planned before birth? What did you come here to learn?
I’m exhausted and numb from placing trust in the wrong people
Friend’s happy family and career remind me how good life can be
Money can’t buy happiness, but poverty can make you miserable
Check out my Tuesday interview on Steve Gelder’s political radio show
Counting on the status quo? Do you have a plan in case things collapse?
Patterns that made old mistakes keep us making same old errors
Our inexplicable behavior ‘signals’ to the world who and what we are