“Over the years I’ve gathered a handful of people who’ve crossed us or let us down or betrayed us in ways big and small. That’s what happens with age, I guess. With successes or failures, with memories of events, betrayals, and tragedies that shift with time and perspective, with new information. The list of people no longer worth your energy grows longer. People with whom the pretense of friendship, or even just cordiality, erodes me every time I’m forced to play along.”
