Books, Coffee, Shoes, & Friendship

You can buy my love with books. (This year: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Born to Run: A Hidden Trip, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling, Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres, a national parks guide, and a Kindle gift card.)

You can buy my love with coffee. (This year: A Keurig--including K Cups and reusable filter, Starbucks gift cards, and a porcelain mug. To boot I was treated to my first Café Glacé experience... and a final cup of Turkish joy!)

You can buy my love with shoes. (This year: Gold Glitter TOMS, Hunter Boots, and faux UGGs.)

But this year--2011, three marvelous people entered my life... and I think they are here to stay. In April I started corresponding with M.R.B., mother of fellow Peace Corps volunteer, J.P.B., and was later able to visit her outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

In August I made a virtual friend in H.M.M., at the time a soon-to-be and now currently serving Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho. Our exchange may be limited to email--the friendship, though, is intentional.

Lastly, in September, Latte Woman became a regular part of my life. And you have already heard plenty about her as she is regularly featured here(!!!). This is us our last 'playdate' of the year.

Each one of these women is older than me; together they have taught me a great deal about adult female friendships. I am astonished by the depth friendship can travel when women move beyond the cattiness that plagues our gender stereotype and into authenticity and trust. You cannot buy friendship.