Nileeni.

June 2, Olney.

The last time Nileeni and I saw each other was 13 years ago, when we were both in graduate school in MIssouri. She has been living and working in the D.C. area since she left Missouri in 1996 but I'd never seen her again. We called, emailed, years passed.
And there she was, and all those years vanished. Seeing her again, and meeting her husband, Shaym, for the first time, only underscored what I already knew: how lonely I sometimes get for my friends. My long-time friends are in France, in Brazil, in Morocco, Florence, Fred and Virginia, and Marie, and here, Kris and Greg and the photo girls in Riverside, California, and friends from the Missouri photo mafia are all over the world, in Singapore, in Malaysia, in the Middle East and all over this country too.
I miss those friendships, the actual physical contact and interaction involved, even if everybody's life has changed. Nileeni gave me a hug and we were twenty-something grad students struggling with work and study overload.