The challenging times I referred to are the recent death of a close friend...too young to die.

The second is being Israeli and Jewish. A challenging and painful time. There are some good people around here who were there for me when I wrote about it....an uphill battle, something I should be familiar with. But still painful.

And as to the subject of my article, I promised myself to be a brave and honest writer. Too many writers feel that they have to be nice all the time. Such posturing takes away from creativity. Don't you think?

(BTW I love the tone of your response.)