Dear Friends,

So, I've had a massive disconnect with you lately. Somehow over the course of the past few months, we just don't talk so much any more. I've been concerned about this, what it means and why it has come to pass. I have very unique pasts with all of you, and there's been ups and downs and other nuances. Some of us were very close as recently as a few months ago, some of you I haven't seen regularly for years. But the fact is that I need you like any friend would need. And unfortunately there's been a very large wall lately, on top of any other baggage you and I may have, and that wall is Poly.

I have a current issue with my girlfriend right now. We've had them in the past, and we will have them in the future, it is the incidence of having a relationship for longer than a month. Problems happen.

Now, my larger issue is that as I sit here processing, sorting this out, I'm wondering to myself who I can call. Who I can really trust in this circumstance. And the conclusion is the thing that really troubles me....the only person I feel won't judge me is my girlfriend.

Friends, I need you, I've always needed you. And I need to speak with you, but I need it to be more than your chance to tell me you told me so, or an opportunity to make me feel guilty for my life choices. I haven't been articulate enough lately to outline why I'm making the choices I'm making. Part of the excitement and the growth is the newness, the rawness of it. But however inarticulate or unclear I am, it remains my choice, and I make no apology for it.

So, just to be clear, I am in a poly relationship, and I am remaining in it. I say that proudly and confidently.

But now is the time that I do need you. As in any relationship, there are imperfections and doubts and worries, and we support one another through these things. That's what I need from you now and ever after, as I would hope you can come to me for. I am asking you, sincerely, when I ask you for advice on this, you are sensitive to my choices, that you understand that this is a relationship like any other and to not fixate so much on how unorthodox it is. I am still me, and you know me.



With love,
Dig

Dear Alcohol,

We've been through a long and glorious time, you and I. I really can't claim to have an adult life without you, and you've been one of the most reliable friends. Always there, ready to slum it up with me at a dive, and graciously sapping up my pay stubs whenever my tastes began to escalate. Ever present, ever consistent, ever economically accommodating, it really should be no surprise that in my life you always manage to beat out your green brethren.

And the memories, however fuzzy, or inappropriately blacked out. How else would I pre-maturely and childishly out myself at Stevens? What would I have done there without that handful of undesired sexual attempts with cis-men and the latent intoxication that eased the clear discomfort and strangeness of it? What would I have been at Rutgers had I not wasted hours of daylight recovering from your glorious rituals? Would Mexico had been any more enlightening without the glaze of rum? The hot tub? The over-sleeping? The stomach problems? Brooklyn vanity? It's been good, you and I.

But I think we may be coming to the end of our road together. Not to say I won't visit or write, but the partnership just isn't giving me what it used to. Hope you can understand, as I'm sure you'll find plenty of others to keep you company in my stead.


It's been fun,
Dig