#186 - A.Y.

You were so handsome it made my soul hurt, so forbidden, it made me want you with every fiber of my being. Daily, I'd watch you play basketball with the boys from the projects. Then you graduated and I never saw you again. Eh.

#185 - B.C.

In high school, you were a star soccer player, brilliant, haunted by addiction. Today, you're a college professor, still achingly brilliant, and a recovering alcoholic. You've withdrawn from life, but you haven't given up. Keep fighting the good fight.

#184 - J.C.

I can see you - eyes furrowed, hands moving. I would stand in the back at your shows and watch you, the most talented bass player I'd ever met. Still, our lives were far too intertwined to move forward, and instead, I drifted away.

#183 - M.C.

You're one of the few co-workers I truly like. Tall, skinny, and goofy, I can take criticism from you without flinching. We sit next to each other at staff meetings and graduation and make snarky comments until our faces are blue from not laughing.

#182 - S.M.

Musical, intelligent, supportive, creative and somehow... electric. It's fascinating to watch you figure out who you really are after three decades of being who you were supposed to be. You're going places, and I'm getting in on the ground floor.

#181 - L.Z.

Eighty-eight hours spent on your levy campaign last year as marketing director. Months getting the board members YOU wanted elected. But you found it easy to call me in, your gray brows furrowed, and denigrate me because of the unsubstantiated claims of a liar.

#180 - Q.

You're handsome, quiet, around my age. You do my nails, snickering softly to yourself at my prattle. Soon, you're telling me about your past gang affiliations in L.A. and your pimp-like ways, and I'm kind of impressed at the empire you've made here.