Miss Laura, I totally hear where you're coming from. I tend to be a person that people feel like they can confide in, which has gotten me into more than a few one-sided friendships. It's hard once you've been sucked into someone's world to pull yourself out of it, but it is so often necessary.

I tend to avoid making friendships these days as it's caused me so much stress before. I figure I'm married, my wife is also my best friend, and that's about as much as I should want out of this world. I've been burned by other people too many times to go beyond that, right or wrong.