Growing up I was surrounded by boys, I did have 5 brothers after all. Then I joined the Army and again I was surrounded by boys (not a bad thing). I've always got along with men and have some great guy friends. While the majority of my friends were men, I've always been blessed with at least one close girl friend wherever I lived (military brat).
Freshman year was Kirsten, we lived in OR, then we moved to IL and Angie became my best friend thru the beginning of my senior year and then I met Nancy when we moved to WA. I was traumatized having to move my senior year but then I met by best friend for life. Well, until I move out of her house at least:)
Julie arrived the day after I arrived in Korea and we became roommates and best friends. We did everything together, including a lot of drinking. A LOT OF DRINKING. And I know it will shock you to find this out but we also did a lot of eating. I still love Korean food. You could buy a bowl of cheese ramen and a stick of beef for a dollar each. Many a late night meal consisted of that. The funny thing is we would never be really drunk at the same time so we took care of each other.
When I was stationed in Ft Meade, MD we didn't have to share rooms. My unit consisted mostly of men, not a lot of female camera people in the Army. For awhile there I was the only one in our unit. I didn't mind either way, I could hold my own with the guys. In the room across the hall from me lived Reine-Marie. I actually first became a friend with her co-worker but her co-worker, I believe her name was Jennifer, found a guy and fell out of the picture but Reine and I stayed friends. We would spend weekends heading to either DC or Baltimore, Ft Meade was ideally located. After I got out of the Army I flew back to be Maid of Honor in her wedding.
Way back then we didn't have internet or cell phones so it was easy to fall out of touch with people. A couple of moves (and I moved a lot) and you've lost contact. Then along came Facebook! While we complain about privacy and how often they change the settings I have to say I love FB because it's allowed me to reconnect with people I've thought gone from my life for good.
While I'm not the greatest at calling often or responding as often as I should to emails, I can keep in contact, at least superficially thru FB and when I travel, if I'm lucky, I get to re-connect with long lost friends. And that was what I did when I went to Washington D.C. I got to spend a couple of hours with both Reine-Marie and Julie. Not nearly enough time but I will take whatever time I can get. It was wonderful to re-connect and re-energize our friendship. I've always considered them friends but now they are a part of my present, as well as my past. We've aged wonderfully, haven't we? My excuse is I'm Asian, I have no idea why they still look so gorgeous.
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