Well, that's done ...and easier than I expected. After struggling with just the right wording, with just the right amount of negativity to convey my ire (without being excessively harsh), I abandoned that draft and simply stated that it all had to stop because of my inability to continue ...due to time constraints.

Okay, so I did lie a bit to soften the blow. After all, this is obviously a lonely and needy person, and from her perspective, she's only being "nice". In any event, I stated emphatically that that would be my last email. If she gets the point, great. If for some reason, she writes again, I won't even bother to read it. The lack of response will in itself be the response. And not having even read it, I won't have to deal with any angst over its contents. Whew!

There's a great comfort in being a "hard-edged" curmudgeon. The problem with being all warm and fuzzy, is that you attract all the dysfunctional crap that's milling about.