Suzy Says

Last weekend, I had a call from my old friend Peter, and we talked for an hour. Even if we haven’t talked for months, when we do it’s as if no time has passed. Then today, I had a call from my friend, Mary-Lou, telling me that her first novel is being published today. She’s going to send me an autographed copy. It has been favorably reviewed by Roddy Doyle, who wrote The Commitments, and Yoko Ono has personally requested a copy. Mary-Lou is doing book signings and readings, and is being interviewed for Talk TV today (it’s a CTV show, so if you don’t live in Canada, you probably can’t see it). I’m so thrilled and proud of her!

Mary-Lou and I have been friends since high school. She was my bridesmaid, along with my sister Megan, and I feel lucky to have had her in my life for so many years.

Her good news got me to thinking. I have four friends from high school days: Mary-Lou and Peter, who both live in Toronto; Richard, who lives in San Francisco, and Alice, who lives in Amsterdam. Mary-Lou, Peter, and Richard all are free-lance journalists and are single. Alice and I are the only married ones, and the only property owners. Alice recently started working at Aot, after completing her PhD in math last year, and it’s her first real job. She used to be a model, doing the collection in New York, Paris, and Milan; she was in Vogue, Elle, etc., and once when I was in London, I saw banners with her face on them in the cosmetics department at Harrod’s.

It was fun when she was a model. I got to see what goes on behind the scenes at fashion shows (complete chaos), I learned everything I ever needed to know about make-up, and I hardly ever had to pay for dinner or drinks, because guys will pay for anything to hang out with models. So if you have a friend who is one, you get the perks, too. Eventually, she married a very handsome and sweet Dutch photographer (even though he always said he’d never date a model and she always said she’d never date a photographer) and moved to Amsterdam, where they have lived happily ever after.

But whether their lives have turned out glamorous or ordinary, I’m so glad they’re all still my friends. If someone knew you in when you were a dork in high school and still loves you, that’s amazing.