I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane, don’t know if I’ll be back again!

Time doesn’t take away from friendship, nor does separation… Tennessee Wiliams

I’m happy to say, “I will be back again!” Right now, I’m sitting in our daughter’s dining room overlooking a hillside of the iconic Los Angeles Mexican Fan Palms. Staggering in their majestic 60-80 foot height. We’re perched on an adjacent hillside overlooking Sunset Blvd, here for our semi-annual California trip from Cuenca. And, in a few days, I’ll be leaving on a Jet Plane, making my way to NYC and Toronto for two very special visits.

First stop: New York City. A favorite city I would visit, mostly for work, a few times a year, a million years ago. It’s now been a very long time since my last visit. And this trip is very special because it’s all about love and friendship.

It all began in the early 1980s. The number-one teen magazine had recently hired me for the West Coast office. I flew into New York, and the Advertising Director paired me with a top New York salesperson. Tall in her very high heels, her blond curls tipping the top of her Madison Avenue ‘power suit!’ “Welcome to the top of New York publishing,” she said with her hand extended. We headed to an appointment and an intense presentation of the magazine to a major fashion company. I was so impressed with her confidence and industry knowledge. I have a lot to learn, I thought to myself.

We left the appointment and hailed a taxi. The 5:00 traffic was a sea of yellow, and traffic was just as fierce on the sidewalk. Racks of clothing pushing by, messengers darting on and off their bikes, hawkers toting their goods. As we’re chatting, I ask, “Are you dating anyone”? And this confident, in-control New Yorker breaks down in tears. She gives me a sobbing, quick response. I promptly tapped the driver on the shoulder and asked him to drop us at the nearest Hotel Bar and make it fast.

No, we did not close the bar, but we did linger over a casual dinner long enough to know we would become friends…And, friends, we have been for forty years. The most unusual aspect of our friendship is how often we have NOT seen each other! In fact, this trip I’m making now brings us to year eighteen since we last met. And, yet, we are the very best of friends.

I have a habit of tethering my friends to me, and I am beyond grateful to call a group of these women my friends. Each, in their own way, made significant changes in my life. And, I can say, across the board – I would not be the woman I am today had these women not come into my life. This particularly unique long-time friend and ingrained New Yorker was instrumental in guiding me through what began as a rough love patch and morphed into a life-altering experience of self-discovery. For a year, she pushed me to dig deep, confront my fears, find my authentic self, and celebrate the new woman I was becoming.

Emerging in my newfound self, the universe stepped in and rewarded me. I was offered an excellent position as West Coast Manager with a ground-breaking women’s magazine. I accepted at once. And, it just so happened that my darling, beautiful New Yorker was the cornerstone of the all-female staff in New York.

How lucky can one girl get? Tomorrow I’ll be winging my way to a long overdue reunion with an incredible woman I am honored to call my friend.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please let me know about your friendships that have lasted through time and distance…And stay tuned for Part Two…Toronto and meet another incredible woman with ninety-six years of stories. xok