Whoa.

Had a conversation with someone last night that left me feeling like I'd been run over by a train. She and her husband split up, and we had no idea it was coming. We don't see them as often as we'd like, and I guess we won't be seeing them together again.

It's all mutually agreeable, things just didn't work out, etc., etc. It's probably the right thing to do. But I'm beyond shocked. Mrs. & I agreed that of all the couples we know, those with & without problems, these people weren't even on the list of people we thought could possibly break up. I don't want this to happen. Not because I think it's the wrong thing - it's not my marriage. I just hate the idea of this kind of change, and especially with people I like a lot.

We talked about it after the phone conversation, and my one takeaway is that I'm getting exceedingly paranoid about the direction life is taking. Things seem too good to be true, given what's happening in the world in general and specifically to people around us. I'm not begging for trouble, mind you, but I can't see why we'd escape the illness, strife, and troubles of people we know. Oh, I know God doesn't really work that way - all happens for a reason, and He's not sending problems just for the fun of it. But I do wonder why I have been blessed with a happy marriage, good health, and (mostly) good kids, and others I know are struggling with some of these issues.

It's a large philosophy problem I guess, and I'm not the most philosophical person in the world. But this is a depressing turn of events, and given the issues in the wider world at the moment, I'm feeling deeply concerned about the course of human events on both the micro and the macro levels.