You just call out my name

And you know wherever I am
I'll come running
Just to see you again...
You've got a friend

I've got good ones. I know that. It's easy to take things for granted, but my friends are the one thing that I always try to keep at the top of the "I'm grateful for..." list.

Kristie sent me a card last week that was the perfect expression of a friend. She mixed genuine care for my well being with encouragement and a healthy dose of ass-kicking protective-ness. It's the balance of what a best friend does - she loves you and makes you laugh and threatens bodily harm to anyone who makes you feel bad. I've been having a great time since I've been back in New York, but there are things that have gotten me down, and I know I can count on her to pick me up when I'm being dragged down by my own emotions.

Coming back to this city has reinforced that feeling of home you get when you find the place you belong. It's remarkable to me that I can feel such an intense connection to a city that did not raise me. A city that adopted me as much as I adopted it. I feel that New York is part of my identity and always has been, even before I knew it. So, while I feel all of that wonderful positive energy for where I am, I have a hard time with it because it's not where Kristie is. Something I admire about her is that she can make you feel like she's right there in the room with you even when she's 4 hours away. Whether it's a phone call, a card, an email - she always makes me feel better when I'm upset, lighter when I'm weighed down, accompanied when I'm lonely. That's the mark of a good friend. She's on the top of my "I'm grateful for" list.