As I get older, I value my long-term friendships more and more. Nostalgia increasingly becomes our companion as we age, it seems. I always wondered about that and didn't believe it would happen to me, but now it seems perfectly fit and proper that it should. Looking back on my life, I find that much richness rests on the unique experiences great friendships have provided.

I've been blessed with many good friends. But these few are the cream of my particular crop, people I would go (or would have gone) to the ends of the earth for, had circumstances required.

With two of these friends I developed great closeness before ever meeting them in person, thanks to electronic mail and participating in the main LGB-related internet discussion group. Some people find it hard to feel intimately connected to others in cyberspace, but we certainly didn't. The rest are present or former denizens of Madison.