West Side Girls

Feature Friday

... west side girls stick together.

In preparation for today's feature, I had to dig way way back into my memory to discover when Nanci and I first met.
The first real memory I have of this wonderful lady is in Mrs. Reed's (then Ms. Leventhal's) mixed grades Russian class. Nanci was one of the 'older kids' who got to sit in the back row, whose Russian far exceeded my own, and who, by all rights, was completed venerable. I remember thinking how cool she was for being able to rattle off Pushkin's poems, for knowing the steps to whatever folk dance we were learning, for not having to think about it before declining a verb into the Dative case. We never chatted much during those early years.
Nanci and I are both from the west side, which meant that during various parts of grade school, we rode the same bus. I recall thinking how unapproachable she was because she was older, smarter and wiser.
Life wove itself around various places and spaces for each of us, and it was with delight and pleasure, I caught up with Nanci again in Mrs. Reeds mixed-grade Russian class. Still, she was one of the older, cooler kids, but for the first time, we were at least congruent in our language skills. I hadn't seen Nanci in years, and when I walked into the classroom for the first time, I felt like I'd come home. The impenetrable force that I'd assigned to Nanci in my youth shifted and changed. Instead of being a formidable force, she became a friend.
After she graduated and I dropped out, our lives once again led us on different paths and in other directions. With Facebook, we're able to stay in touch.
It was with joy that I received an email from Nanci earlier this summer telling me that she had started a blog. Not only was it such a treat to be offered the chance to read Nanci's words, but I was so touched that she thought to share the news with me.
So, now I get to do the same. Check out this awesome blog! It's new, and fresh, and Nanci is hard at work at adding entries. But she has the drive and the commitment to make it something fantastic. She's always been a great writer, and now she gets a chance to show the world.
Props, Nanci! I look forward to continuing to read your work.