January 6, 2021:
The things he said were not wrong. They were egregiously mean-spirited, where he bent over backward to find ways to be nasty.
I don't know that our friendship was ever close. There were other friends I loved and who were good to me. He was a resource. Not a very useful one, but at times the only one there was. So I spent considerable time with him, because he spent considerable time talking before arriving at a useful point. I learned to be patient.
Still, my affection for him was real, if ultimately a bit patronizing. I did not confide my reality to him, but that was hardly unique. At that time of life I don't think I confided in anyone.
We were never close, and I'd already taken large steps away from him after he dissed my girlfriend. So that the proverbial final straw was long in preparation. He insulted work I was attempting, that I was fond of, for no useful purpose except to be egregiously critical in a mean-spirited way. It was pointlessly hurtful and I was done. That was the end, much like hanging up the phone, an ordinary everyday gesture requiring no particular effort.