“A friend is someone who will stay with you when everyone else leaves.” A few years ago, Katyusha Ermolaeva and I went to the nursery to pick up a puppy. Katya squatted down next to a large plastic box in which dark brown puppies were scurrying around and exclaimed: “Well, which one should I choose?” “They’re all pretty.” “Take the one on the far right,” the breeder advised, “I know for sure that Max will grow up to be an extremely beautiful Rottweiler, a winner of dog shows...”