Victoria, Joan, Katherine and I

I started working in the Tax Department at Marriott Headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland on June 16, 1986. Little did I know that would be the day I would meet three of my dearest friends for life....Victoria (bottom left), Joan (top left), and Katherine (bottom right). We were all the exact same age, all one year out of college, and all started working at the Mothership as I like to call it (because it just sucks you in and won't let you go without a fight) within the same period of time. Our journey began with 100 hour work weeks, studying for and passing the CPA exam together, being 22 and thinking our 27 year old bosses were so old, and launching our careers in accounting. Our paths have since gone in different ways: one of us stays home full-time, one works part-time, one works full-time while her husband stays home, and the other works full-time yet is enviably adventurous and takes the most fabulous vacations. Katherine and I left the company after ten years or so; Victoria and Joan are still there! However, last week, Victoria let us know that she is moving her family to Atlanta, Georgia for a terrific new job she accepted with Georgia-Pacific and that she is leaving on Sunday..yes, this Sunday, August 12. Wow. It was too fast and a little hard to process given how quickly it was happening. The four of us don't see each other often, but when we are together, we pick up right where we left off. Don't you love friends like that?! They are three of the most supportive, smartest, trust-worthy, funny, accomplished women I know. Here's the best part, I feel safe with them...I can just be me around them ...I can say what I want and not feel judged or laughed at. They are the truest of friends, and I am so blessed to have them in my life... And now that one of them is moving, I realize even more how much I miss seeing them on a regular basis. When we first met, we were young and single and had no obligations...now we have husbands, careers, kids, and pets to get in the way of regular get togethers. It is so easy to let months go by without saying "hello" or getting together...but we've never made each other feel badly about that...we just understood that is where we are in our lives... Tonight we got together at Maggiano's to say farewell to Victoria, but we didn't even think about the sad part. We just talked about her new adventure and got caught up with each other. I don't think it will hit Katherine, Joan, and I until the next time we get together and there isn't anyone in that fourth chair to talk about her latest shopping excursion at Saks, Macy's or Nordstrom. I guess we will all just have to meet in Atlanta for dinner and a little shopping (that's for you Vic)....Here's to 21 years of friendship ladies...I love you all dearly.