To continue with this thread which your compassionate memoir began, Jay,I think it isn’t necessarily sad that we all have a need to be listened to. As with just about every interaction between humans, it’s excessive behaviors that cause us to feel uneasiness and weariness after a while. James seems like a brilliant young man, but I suspect may have been on the autism scale and therefore unable or unlikely to “read” the needs and emotions of others . But I think when we speak of relationships we need to strive for that duel role of listener and listened to. I don’t think such a relationship need be viewed as merely transactional ; I think if successful, such a relationship could be transcendent. Well, this is probably more than you ever hoped to generate with your essay; but I do very often find your essays to be a kind of springboard for my own reflections…🌹