Thanks guys (and most especially for the hugs ). The real git of it all is that almost exactly the same scenario played out in 2010. Again it was my fault but basically Shell and Sam had a falling out and went from best friends to not speaking. Shell did try to patch things up but Sam, abetted by me, didn't want to know. Not long afterwards, we lost her and she spent her final days without her best friend. Not saying history is doomed to repeat itself, just that we're our own worst enemy and I'd hate for it to play out the same way.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'