Where's Waldo. I Mean Katie

So, where do I begin? Remember my friend Katie, AKA "Fluttering Silk"? The one who completly, randomly, ran onto my friend Nana in Japan this morning? I need to fill you in on what is unfolding and to brag a little about my wonderful friend, her beautiful blog and the amazing adventure she's on!

Katie and I grew up on the same street. My family lived there for twenty years. It was a great place, with huge Oaks and Maples that lined the quiet road. Families with children lived in almost every house, which also included Katie home. The only thing was, her house sat a block down from me, across an avenue. It's a very low-traffic avenue, just two lanes wide, but still, an "avenue", so we weren't allowed to cross it alone for years. I'd ride my bike in circles, around and around our block, while Katie's older brother would stand on his corner across the street, taunting me with rocks and calling my day-glo green dirt bike "Stupid". I didn't bother me though and eventually, as time went on, I became friends with both katie and her annoying brother.

We became quite close in high school, when, being two grades ahead, I would pick her up in the mornings and take us to school. We would giggle, giggle, giggle, for some reason and sing Grateful Dead songs at the top of our lungs. Once I swear we made a perfectly choreographed dance, using only our arms and upper bodies in the car on the way to school, to the Dead's "U.S. Blues". One morning for some inexplicable reason, every time I would turn the steering wheel, my car's horn would honk. It was just about the funniest thing that had ever happened to us and we litteraly, both peed in our pants.

In college I would sometimes come home and visit Katie, but she was off chasing boys most of the time. Then she went away to Vermont for school and we didn't see each other for a while. One year, right after Jon and I moved to San Francisco, I suddenly felt the urge to write a poetic "Where are you, I miss you." type of e-mail to Katie. I asked if she was still in Vermont, said how much I missed her, and that I had moved to san Francisco and it struck me as a city she would just love. Five minutes later, seriously, FIVE minutes later, I got a reply, that indeed Katie missed me too AND.........she was also living in San Francisco!!! In fact, she was just across the park from us. Again, what are the chances of that!? Needless to say we had a joyful, tearful reunion minutes later, with lots of annoying squealing and giggling all the way down the stairs and into the street.

Time went by. Katie busied herself with med. school and eventually Jon and I moved home. We lost touch again and then she e-mailed me a year ago summer. We saw each other briefly, but the elusive Katie was not to surface again until last month. That's Katie, she's kind of like "Where's Waldo", she'll appear somewhere and then disappear for a while and then show up somewhere new again. The thing is, she's one of those friends. You know the kind, where it doesn't matter if a day or a month or a year goes by. When you see each other again, it feels like a minute. You slip right back into the friendship, laughing and making the same old lame, inside jokes.

I'm so immensely proud of my little Katie. She is a beautiful, creative person and has a heart of gold. For starters, she graduated with a P.A. degree, that's a "Physician's Assistant". It sounds misleading to me as an "assistant". Basically, a P.A. is nearly a full fledged doctor. You go through the same medical school classes, and then the rotations, just not the long term residency. P.A.'s work in practices in partnership with doctors. They can give exams and prescribe medicine. In fact, every week Katie assists in surgery! She works as a P.A. in an orthopedic surgeon's practice. I am SO proud.

This P.A. stuff is what has lead her to the big trip. Katie will eventually get to Cambodia where she'll volunteer her medical services for one month at a children's hospital. How amazing is that!? Katie will also do a little traveling to Thailand and Loas and then might go on to Bali or India. Check out all of Katie's adventures HERE on her blog, "Fluttering Silk". And for some AMAZING photography from her past trips, check out her Flickr page HERE! Seriously, Katie is one hardcore traveler!

So, as we speak, Katie and my good friend Masa are sight seeing around Tokyo. I made the two meet up, it will be good for them and I think they're a "good match" friend wise.
Here is an adorable picture that Masa snapped on his camera phone an hour ago.










It doesn't get much better than this; two of my best friends in one picture! As you can see, Masa is quite tan from a much envied three week trip to Guam and Katie, well, she just looks caucasian. But adorable!

I do hope they are having fun, and I am very VERY sad not to be there with them. Although, Jon found out this week that he has the miles now for a free ticket to Asian, so, expect a trip to Japan this year, either by myself or the three of us. Let's cross our fingers!

Anyway, it's been related to me by Katie on that Google Chat thing, that Nana checked them in and showed Katie and her family to their room last night. After explaining how everything in the room works, (The Toto Washlet, I am guessing) Nana in small talk mentioned that she used to live in Michigan. And Katie, being a goof ball as I am , blurted out to be funny, "Oh! Do you know Lauren and Masa? Hee hee.." And this is where I interpret that both were like...WTF!? When they realized that Nana, uh, does in fact know us!
See, that's crazy.

So, I will update more when I hear how the little sight seeing date is going, and please check out Fluttering Silk and Katie's Flickr page, both amazing, just like my sweet friend.