He didn't want her to be around her friends. I used to call her everyday until she said 'don't, because he checks the caller ID at lunch.' I just stayed away because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Becky played by the book. She couldn't go anywhere without letting someone know 24 hours a day because she was scared of him. That's no way to live.

She was a smart girl. She just got into a bad situation. ... She lived every day in fear.

I didn't know Mick very well, but I didn't like him. He made me feel really uncomfortable, so I didn't run in their circles. He's one of those people that stared at you at all times.

There are short-term questions to be sure -- the impact of changes in residential housing markets and the prospects for inflation are two -- but, overall, the economy in 2006 seems likely to be very well-behaved.

We may be entering a period in which policy changes are even more dependent than they have been on current readings of the economy, with all the uncertainty such readings can bring.