Shout Out(s)

Lately I've been thinking a great deal about my best friends (family excluded).  I don't have many of them, four in total to be honest, but they are the best people I know; the best kind, the most kind; the kindest, best people I know.

In just under two months I will, for a time, join the expat community- this move is the trigger for these thoughts about my besties.  Two of them are already living abroad.  I will join them soon enough in an international adventure.  But before that-

The (Long-Overdue and Alphabetical by Last Name) Shout Out(s)-

CB

C, my beloved C.  You are, without a doubt, the other half of my spirit.  You encourage me and enrich me and engage me.  I have known C since high school, when we met through a mutual friend- well.. more of an acquaintance for me, but an acquaintance to whom I will be forever indebted for her hand in my long-lasting friendship.

There have been several occasions when we were mistaken as sisters- both tall, slender with brown hair, fair skin and distinctive faces.  I took it as the most brilliant compliment I have ever received- C may have had a distinctly different outlook  :).  But in a way, she is my sister- closer than a sibling could be.  I make pilgrimages to her in New Zealand solely to be in her presence- which soothes me unlike any other balm on earth.

C is mentally, spiritually, emotionally and fundamentally beautiful.  I constantly hope that a little bit of her vitality rubs off on me.. but at the same time, I'd never ever want her to lose any of it.

I am lucky to know her.  And I am better for knowing her.

NB

Lord.. this boy.  In grad school we were called 'The Wonder Twins'.. I think because our names rhymed- but honestly, toward the end of my tenure in Baton Rouge, I could almost (and Mom agreed with this) see a physical resemblance to him.  I fought with him, laughed more with him than I would have ever thought possible.  I bounced ideas off of him.

This kid- this man- I would happily take a bullet for.  I would like down on train tracks for this kid.

He's not one of the expats.. instead, N is actively building a life for himself at home in the US.  In Iowa, where he is from.  He's managing a museum and doing something I cannot say I've done for myself: he's putting his well-earned History degrees to use.

N makes me a better person by being himself.  By being as immature, as nonsensical, and as ri-cock-u-lous as me.

SJ

S… my S.

Sometimes I think she's a dream.  One that I had my freshman year in college and one that I found so perfectly… amazing.. that I kept dreaming her even up until this very day.  I will never forget that first silly conversation we had, after a mutual freshman French class.  I asked her where she was from- the most commonly asked question besides 'where did you go to high school?'- at University.  She answered 'Africa'.  S is a physically stunning white-blond, ivory-skinned, aquamarine-eyed, human creature.

I snorted and then asked 'South Africa?'… Lord how innocent we all are at some point in our lives.

S is changing the world, one Peace Corps, one humanitarian tour of duty at a time (currently the other expat until I make my upcoming escape).  She is changing the world.  She makes me want to be better, to make myself into the best person I can possibly be.  She is.. S is something else entirely.  She laughs with her entire being and loves with her whole heart.  She give and gives and gives.

She puts me to shame.  And baits me to rise.

IL

O I.  My darling darling I.  When this girl smiles, it is literally like watching the sun erupt from the middle of a cloud bank.  She has all the light in the world contained in her being.  All of it.  When she and I met, I was on the academic track to grad school, assistantships, a PhD.  And now she is working for NOAA while I am contemplating the benefits of making a go of teaching yoga abroad.  We have changed places but not really.

I and I are both still the same silly 19 and 20 year olds who met in Maryland one summer, doomed to a heat wave, an interesting third roommate, and an unusual number of ever-so-slightly hungover Fridays. She is the epitome of soul-mate.  The person who has called me twice now, who I've yet to return the call (tomorrow I PROMISE0), and who, when she picks up the phone, will return me to me.

She's the definition of 'like no time has passed.'

----

These four people occupy my heart constantly.  They are on my mind, even if only in the back of it, always.  Always.  I love them all with a ferocity that I would have never thought possible had it not been for their peculiar presences in my rather peculiar life.

To the four of you-

I love you.  Always.  I am honored to count you among my most beloved beloved beloved.  You are all too good for me and I am constantly humbled by what you achieve every day.  You are all profoundly and singularly wonderful.  

I hope to keep you as constants.

So So So So, so so so much love.

K