Yaso

I met Yaso the first day of calculus class at UT in 2001. We met just as we were embarking on our journeys into adulthood, just days before 9/11 rocked the world, and at a time of uncertainty for everyone. Back then, I needed Yaso for my survival. You see, she was very good at math and somehow knew Calculus already. Although I had just taken Calc I at the Junior College in the summer and made an "A," this was no joke. Calc II at UT, with a Russian professor, in a classroom of 300. I felt like college was really hard, really impersonal and really intimidating. She was my lifeline. Somehow I passed (but barely), and I credit that to her tutelage. 

We quickly become friends and study buddies, though looking back, I don't see how being a study buddy was of any benefit to her. We bonded through Calculus and through the angst of being young, college freshmen who wanted to do so much with their lives, but who knew there were so many hoops to jump through first. We helped each other through the ups and downs of that first semester. We attended a U2 concert, and I taught her how to straighten her hair with a flat iron. 

If my life was a coming-of-age movie, Yaso would be that person starring next to me. Since our days at UT we have gone in entirely different directions, but maintain a kinship that I know will last a lifetime. I am grateful for her because she has inspired me to travel, and to consider that an essential element to a happy life. I am grateful that throughout the years our email exchanges have helped us each though trials and tribulations. She has been a generous hostess to me, first when I visited her in San Francisco in 2006 and then several times when visiting her in Manhattan. 

One of the things though that I will never forget was how happy Yaso was for me when I announced I was getting married. It was a genuine happiness that I wish we all had for others. She had that for me, and she was the one friend who stood by my side at San Francisco City Hall on December 3, 2009. She flew all the way out from Chicago, and she and I rocked out in the limo, and had a blast. 

I am thankful that Yaso came into my life back in 2001 and am really happy she remains there. She sees the world differently than most of the people I know. She is international, she is refreshing, smart, impassioned, she is just awesome. I hope that she knows what a great friend she has been and that she finds all the happiness in life that she so deserves.