Dear Heart,

I am so sorry that your life has been invaded by that crazy woman; but also thankful that you still have your beautiful children. It just isn't "right", somehow, that children should die before their parents do.

Mr. Compton's (nice to see you back, by the way!) point about cycles is well-taken. "Well, he got me so now I have to get him back" mentality has been the cause of SO much destructive behavior. Consider the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud that lasted for generations. I cannot tell you how many people I met in the course of my work who had--no, lived, this attitude. Virtually every waking moment is spent keeping the fire of past hurts going, or else planning for some form of retaliation--even retaliation for future presumed acts! These are very tense, angry, and sad (British sense) people.

Someone really needs to be big enough to be the first to break the cycle. To my way of thinking, it is a mark of maturity and graciousness to have the attitude of: "Well, you did me wrong, but I choose not to return the same (at this time, maybe, depending upon the circumstances). What you did was childish and destructive, and I am not going to lower myself to that level".