Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds — justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they can’t go on. To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the questioner.

Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)

I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become enthusiastic for the fact, the knowledge, the absolute truth of the day, but remain always uncertain … In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar.

Richard P. Feynman

When your trust has been betrayed, the only thing to do is live, learn and let go. Otherwise the betrayal done by another will turn into hate for them. But they will not feel this hate, it will only hurt you more, growing bigger and darker. So, live, learn and let go. By living, it means they did not hurt you so deep that you can not move forward. Learn, learn to not trust this person again, and to make more of a sound judgement in the future. Letting go doesn’t mean forgetting. It means that you have let go of the pain it caused. And by not forgetting, you will learn and move forward from the betrayal of the past.

S.L. Vaden

Make up a story… For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul.

Toni Morrison, The Nobel Lecture In Literature, 1993

It’s been a while since we last spoke.

I have great memories of you. On my many trips to New York, you always welcomed me with open arms, and I felt like I was family. You often took Bill and me to dinner at The Georgia Diner and you wouldn’t let me take out my wallet! I enjoyed talking with you about just about any subject and I much enjoyed watching your hearty dialogue with your son. Bill and you had a special mother son relationship, and you were a huge influence on him.

I want to say thank you for bringing your son Bill into the world. As you know, Bill and I were business partners in the sunglass industry for 18 years. Bill and I met at a bar in Allston called Bunratty’s. It was my first and last time at that historic bar. We came to hit it off and Bill wrote down his phone number on a piece of paper. The only problem was he forgot a digit and I could never reach him. Shortly after that I was in Government Center, and I ran into a young man who was selling pins on a big black umbrella. I remember Billy told me at our bar encounter that he had such a “business”. The man gave me Bill’s full number (no missing digits) and Bill, and I reconnected. We became fast friends and shortly after that—business partners. Bill was a great partner who had better business instincts than me. I was wise enough to listen and learn. I soon took a Greyhound bus cross country with the destination of California. The bus trip was Bill’s idea and it proved to be a good one. I could get off and on the bus at major cities and stay there overnight as long as I finished my trip within 14 days if my memory serves me correctly.

I set up base camp in Los Angeles and spent long days schlepping suitcases of sunglass samples along the hot sidewalks of Southern California. I encountered people from all over the world in our attempt to get our sunglasses into the trendy boutiques of Hollywood. I had previously attended college at USC, a major university in Los Angeles but though the lush campus of USC was not too far away, it all seemed a world away from the start up business I was immersed in now. Over time Bill and I grew our business, and I became more at home in Los Angeles. Bill and I would have long very and very expensive long distance phone calls and talk about business and life.

After a decade I returned back to Boston and soon married and had a daughter and stepdaughter. A while after that I sold my half of the business to Bill and embarked on my real estate Odyssey. Life gets busy with demands big and small but through it all Bill and I have remained in touch and have some of the most interesting conversations I have ever had. And I am most proud of our continued friendship.

Bill makes me laugh. He makes me think. I would consider him a modern-day practical philosopher. I could go on and on. So, this man who has been my friend for over 3 decades owes his start in life to you. Your values. Your sacrifices. Your love.

Thank you Janet.

May your memory be for a blessing.