"Without God, all things are permissible." -from "The Brothers Karamazov." Doug and I were brought together by circumstance. We were a couple of lost souls with a willingness to do just about anything. Both of us were sired by alcoholic maniacs, which is to say, our parents were obsessed with their own problems. There was very little energy left for raising children. So that was our draw. You either get the "Leave it to Beaver" parents or you get ours. I like to think of it as the "birth lottery." A friend calls it the "ovarian lottery." So you do the best you can. Whining about the birth lottery might explain your unpreparedness for adulthood, but it garners no sympathy. And so it was that Doug and I stumbled through life and eventually came out on the other side. We very clearly remember our mistakes and we understand now, how it all came to be. It's not with a fit of rage or jealousy that I examine the perfect lives of others. I...