Hank could never bear to hear it when I'd admit some broken feeling. I imagined him alone in his room, posters from floor to ceiling, but his voice was all that I could hear, his lips moving across the city. He assured me that I'd live and that I didn't deserve his pity.

"You're a guy who shouldn't wait for all your friends to reassure you that you're great. Just write it on your hand and you'll remember! Then in all those times of doubt when they hurt your feelings you can stop and calmly say to yourself again that you'll be alright. You can't let the nagging of doubt bring you down."

He also said something cheesy like, "Go for the gold!" although I don't recall his exact words, unfortunately. But for every silly thing he says he'll bust out with some true words of wisdom: "Some folks choose to wonder what the other side knows of their doubt, but parade lines can't be faltered," Hank said. "Let that confetti spill out."

I wanted to feel it, and though I love a good parade, it's hard to join in when your heart has been betrayed by someone that you trust. While hanging up the phone I wished it seemed as easy as the words that Hank had said the day I found my heart shattered to dust. He said, "Go get the dustpan."