Half-Ripe Youth

The three kinds of affection in this world, familial love, friendship, and romantic love, each carry their own meaning and responsibilities. If familial love is warm and romantic love is stirring, then I’d say friendship is what gives us the greatest sense of security. I don’t know whether your high school years held a passionate or unforgettable romance. But I’m sure you had at least one friend, or maybe a few, who would goof off with you, play with you, cry and laugh with you, and shoulder the burdens alongside you. Those companions who were always there, as a matter of course, make the trials and warmth of life we experience as adults feel so distant that my high school days seem like another lifetime.