> > Thank you, both of you... I appreciate it very much. So you know, I have taken the first step. And got nowhere. So now I've taken the last step - a Darienic last gasp at salvaging the situation. I have yet to see how she reacts to that.
>
> Keep us posted. I'm crossing my fingers.

Well, here's the essence - I sent her that big long e-mail referenced above and waited for her response, which wasn't exactly enthusiastic. So we were about to get nowhere. But then I thought, waitaminute, this is silly, and sent her another e-mail basically saying - strike that, coming out and admitting - that our friendship is more important than who did what to whom and with what in the lounge or whatever - and that we should just move on. I also called her, and she was reasonably ecstatic to be hearing from me again (it's been almost a week since we had our fight, and it's unusual for us to be seen apart *ever,* much less for an entire week). So I imagine we're going to be moving on now.

The things that helped me get through this mess, and eventually decide what to do, were listening to music (Poison, mostly; "Every Rose," "Something to Believe In," "Cry Tough," "Stand," and "Lay Your Body Down") and you folk; you were very supportive when I needed you. And thank you especially, Sam, for a very inspirational message found in the most unlikely place; I was flipping through the random "I Thinks," and came across one about how wasteful soda cans are. It ended with the line "Soda in the nose is as bad as life gets." That got me thinking, and I decided that, you know, that makes more sense than it was probably intended to. And that's really what made me decide to forgive and move on, rather than dwell on the past. That may seem silly in the retelling, but it really did make a big difference to me, and profoundly changed my attitude toward the whole situation. Thank you again.