happy valentine's day, to all my girlfriends

recently, i was reminded of allison moe, my freshman roommate -- how she is super-cool, how we are very similar, and how we tragically never became close friends.

it made me think of all of my girlfriends, past and present; i wondered why i have far more boy friends than girl friends now, why the girl friends i do have tend to hang out with boys as well, and why i've neglected my relationships with other women.

i know valentine's day is a lovers' holiday, but to start correcting for years of neglect, i wanted to note the women who have been (and are still) important to me. as much as i complain or seem to despair, i think often that i am very lucky.

reaching way back, here we go:

• flora lee and the other girls that i ran around with when i was three or four. flora likes books. i like books. enough said!
• kimberly chu, another early friend / family friend. the texas chinese-american women connection runs deep and strong ;)
• reena and erin, my montessori kindergarten and first grade buddies. okay, i barely remember them.
• becca bench, who befriended me in second and third grade, when my family first moved out to colleyville and did not know anyone.
• amanda ecklund, laura metzler, and jennifer martin in late elementary school and early middle school. we lived in the same neighborhood, walked to school together, and watched tv / went swimming after school sometimes.
• jennifer king, kimberly cheng, and monica lee, the family friends who lived closest to me. sometimes we hung out at the mall, sometimes we just talked on the phone, especially on slow summer days.
• vivian wang throughout all of middle school and high school. we shared paranoia, anxiety, and silliness.
• naureen shah in high school, who introduced me to the smiths, tried to get me to quit piano and join her rogue philosophy club.
• tracy tom in college, who always listened and had a kind word.
• allison moe my freshman roommate. we never had heart to hearts, and i regret that.
• katherine chen, my sophomore roommate who is always up for an adventure, and i also think a "kindred spirit" of sorts :)
• after college, there are women i met through cornerstone: shira pinnas, lisa leung, annie lee, priscilla tan, and lauren iacocca. there are the brunch girls: kammy lee, yihyun lim, and kristin ishii. there is also joanna gubman.
• importantly, there's my mom and my sister.

there are a lot of others. anyway, for the women who read this, thank you and happy valentine's day!

(p.s. sorry for being a little sentimental.)