Dear friend with whom I haven't spoken since 1993

Think back on the last 15 years of your life. What would you tell someone that you hadn’t seen or talked to for 15 years? How would you sum up your life? You get 10 bullet points. A list of 10 things to summarize about you. At the end of your list, tag 5 more people and send on the love…

Dear friend with whom I haven't spoken since 1993,

I see you met my friend Jody, The Hunter's Wife. It was really nice of her to send you over this direction so we could catch up after all these years. Since you don't have a lot of time, I'll try to be quick.

People tell me that I still pretty much look the same. I try not to point out the differences. I'm 15 years older. There *are* differences.

I was a reporter last time we spoke. Remember that little chain of semi-weekly papers in the far west suburbs of Chicago? Well, I left reporting after having to cover several murders right in a row. That's really stressful, having to knock on the door of a murder victim's relatives and convince them that they want to tell me more about their loved one. I tried copy editing for a few years, but eventually left newspapers all-together. I get paid much more now, but it's hard *not* to find a job that pays better than the $17,500 a year I was making back then.

Remember that guy I was engaged to? Dave? We'd known each other for 10 years already back then. Well, we got married in 1994 and are gearing up to celebrate 14 years this fall.

Children? No. "I'll wait for the next century," I always said. "I want to enjoy being married first." Yeah, well, we're eight years into the new century, but what's the hurry? I said it back then and I still say it now, if the biological clock has broken its springs and no longer ticks when and if we ever decide to have kids, then I'm open to adoption.

We have eight nieces and nephews now. All our siblings and Cousin Bob have had kids. I know Cousin Bob's kids aren't technically nieces and nephews, but we consider them as such.

Yeah, my Mom is still in the same house where I grew up. Yeah, I don't live too far away from her. In fact, I live in the same school district where I attended high school. But we did move away for a little while. We lived in San Francisco for a year and a half. LOVED it. We only came back because of the dot-com crash. Too many people we knew couldn't find jobs. It was scary, so we took an opportunity to be transferred back.

Not to bring you down, but my Dad died a few years ago. It was rather sudden and he was too young. But time heals and we move on. That seems to be the theory, anyway.

Oh, remember that Australian Shepherd my parents had back then? Red Dog? She got to move to San Francisco and back with us. She was a good dog. Played hard even in her very last hours. We have two Bernese Mountain Dogs now. Big snuggly dogs named Loki and Thor. I've enclosed some photos. They're far more laid back than Red was. Loki and Red overlapped a few months. Poor Red was too old for a puppy, though.

Yes, I'm still writing romance novels. No, I'm not published yet. I think last time we'd talked I'd just attended the Romance Writers of America conference in St. Louis. I'm going again this year. It's in San Francisco in three weeks. I can't wait.

I still travel. Did a big trip to Australia just last year. Really want to get back to Europe. I have this fantasy of spending my 40th birthday drinking wine outdoors overlooking a river like the Thames or a vineyard in Italy or France. I have almost a year left to make that happen.

Well that's about it. I went a little long. Sorry and thanks for sticking around.

Oh, I have these friends I think you should meet. I'll tag them really quick for you here so that you can go visit them.

Claire: She has a wicked sense of humor, and likes to doodle and take photos of flowers. She has this roommate named Willy and a houseguest named Olga. Here's a secret: Willy is an inflatable non-sex toy and Olga is a travelling bra. But that's not really much of a secret.

Lisa365 aka starbursidereus: She's on this mission to try something new every day this year. She's a really good photographer and is a BIG hockey fan, but she lives in Canada and aren't all Canadians born to be hockey fans? Maybe that's just a stereotype. Ask her when you see her.

DonMFH: I think Don started at the newspaper after the last time we talked, so you probably didn't get a chance to meet him then. He lives near Boston now in some dilapidated, crime-ridden neighborhood and is very liberal. More liberal than me, even. He's really into music and photography.

Kelly aka Aerten: She used to live in the Chicago area, too, but I didn't know her back then. She's in New York now, doing all sorts of cool artwork. I have one of her pieces in my office. Some day she and I are going to do a Buffy marathon together. Maybe. If we ever actually meet.

Fragileheart: She's a world traveler. She lives in Canada now, but threatens to move to Dublin soon. I'm not exactly sure all the places she's lived, but she seems to like to move a lot. When you talk to her, ask her about her trip to New York and the John Mayer concert.

Cromely: He travels a lot too, but for business. He brings this cute little stuffed penguin with him on his travels and takes photos of him in front of landmarks. He's from Seattle and likes coffee. I know, another stereotype, but it's true! I hope you like William Shatner, because Cromely likes to hold these events called Shatnerpaloozas.

I really want to introduce you to more of my friends, but I think I'm out of space and I know you're pressed for time. Don't worry, though, you'll meet those other friends soon anyway.

Happy travels,
Haley