As most of you know, I freelance for a local afternoon newspaper and as part of my job I attend school board meetings as well as township meetings.

An assistant superintendent at one of the districts I cover recently was arrested for DUI.  It happened over the Christmas holiday and according to police reports she claimed she had two drinks--nothing more.  The police report however indicated that she had slurred speech, failed to use her turn signal and crossed the center line.

She subsequently failed the field sobriety test as well as the Breathalyzer.

The entire story is very sad to me for many reasons but mostly because I want to know where her friends were.

Obviously she wasn't out alone. 

She was with either her co-workers or her girlfriends or perhaps even some family members.

Shouldn't they be held in as much contempt?

This situation made me stop and think about who is in my "inner circle"?  You know the people who you can laugh with or cry with.  The friend who will come and pick you up at 2:00 a.m. when your car won't start.  The people who know if your okay to drive home just by how you look.  The group that would shave their heads if you had to fight cancer.

Everyone needs an inner circle.

And when I'm long gone, I hope my inner circle says things like "We could always count on her."  She made us laugh, she held our hands, she just knew.