"I find no substitute for the legacy I jettison late in life, an ambivalent legacy whose status is confirmed with my birth. My parents and a sibling are dead, and there is no one among the few who share my biological legacy to whom I am close. Those I am closest to are four friends whom I come to trust over a period of years. None of the many people whom I will only claim as acquaintances will ever notice that my quest is for an identity and a place to belong."