Lulu

If you were lucky enough, growing up you probably had a group of close friends. And if you were even luckier, one of them was your true BFF.

I was lucky like that. My friend Lulu was that person for me ever since, at about the age of 13, we became friends. It was our platonic love for the New Kids on the Block that first brought us together, but many other reasons have somehow kept us close throughout more than 20 years. It is hard to believe, but we have now known each other for more than half our lives. That IS a very long time.

She may remember it differently, or maybe she never realized it, but when we were in high school she used to - in a way- take care of me. For a very long time my family did not have a car, so when I was hanging out at her house and it got late she would ask her mom to drive me home. She did the same when there were school parties or dances at night. If it hadn't been because her parents took me home afterwards I wouldn't have been able to go. For anybody that doesn't remember how devastating it is to miss a party when you are in high school let me tell you - it is a really BIG deal!

Since Miami is only a direct flight from Mexico City she was able to meet me here this week. During the day I was at my conference so she had to hang out by herself, but at night we had time to walk around, talk extensively, and catch up on our lives. We go through long stretches without seeing each other, but when we are together it never feels like it has been that long.

While in Miami we went to the tennis tournament, and even though the weather was cool and we didn't see that much tennis because it was the night session, what mattered was that we got to just be together and hang out like in the old times.

I was sad to hear that she is still going through some difficult times in her personal life, but I was happy to be there for her and give her my opinion and advice. I know what I had to say was difficult to hear, and she may not fully agree with me. But if there is something I hope she agrees with is that she deserves to be loved, to be taken care of, and to feel like she's been missed when she gets back home. In the end, things always move forward or they move back.