Stuart helped when I was going through separation and divorce. He asked therapeutic questions, sympathized with my agony over my children, even showed up for moral support at a court hearing vs. my ex-wife.
He was a member of my men's group. And as the group fractured on geographical lines (we formed a separate but friendly group in the northern part of the county, he remained in my faction, along with several others.
Then I noticed those others dropping off. Eventually, it was just Stuart and I, no need for any formal meetings. We'd just call each other occasionally.
And then I noticed he was the one doing most of the calling. And most of the talking. He'd go on about some struggle of his, in particular his family's neglect and hostility toward him (he is an LDS apostate, shunned by church, former friends, and most of his siblings).
When I brought up some challenge of mine, he would take the conversation sideways into a neutral topic. Often, he'd charge it with some anti-Trump dig, knowing we were on opposite sides of the political spectrum. That seemed especially gratuitous to me.
I'd have him over for dinner and drinks occasionally. Inevitably, he would raise political issues and we'd square off semi-amicably. I didn't understand why he did this, knowing what the outcome would be. The conversation would tail off after that and he'd go home.
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