Strong women

Nina, Christine, me: young and bright-eyed, the night before graduation

My three best friends from college were made during my first 14 months of college. With the exception of Eliza (who thankfully is still here, otherwise I’d be totally without my Barnard lovelies), we went our geographic ways after graduation and sadly haven’t seen much of each other in the past two years.

Nina is now in the far-flung corners of Pakistan where she is stationed as a Foreign Service officer. This crazy, beautiful, tiny Filipina from Orange County, California is in PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN, writing us emails about bomb threats like they were minor inconveniences on the same level of being stuck in traffic (Hi there- In Islamabad temporarily (TDY). The Peshawar Consulate closed Monday, due to some security threat, and Islamabad seemed a safer bet. So here I am–) What a crazy girl.

In the past month, however, I’ve seen Christine more times than I saw her all of last year, as she’s been coming into Manhattan from Boston for interviews. She came into town last Thursday night for an interview on Friday and decided to make a weekend of it. On Saturday, she, Eliza, and I went to get beers at Ginger Man and it was fantastic. There’s nothing like getting together with good friends to remind you how much you miss them when they’re not around.

You have people who, no matter what, bring a clarity and drive to life when you are with them.

Nina, Christine, and Eliza: Atlantic City, 2004. Happily, my girl Eliza is still in NYC.