friend forty-four.

san francisco is one of those places full of transplants, like myself, to the point that when you’ve met someone who’s lived there for more than 10 years, you think of them as a native. friend forty-four, who i will refer to here as “annie” is an actual native of san francisco, which impresses me to no end. not only is she a native, but she went to college at berkeley, so she can give you the culinary lowdown on most places on both sides of the bay.

my girlfriend and i have been together for 4 1/2 years now. early on she introduced me to a good friend who swiftly became my good friend, too. and within a few months, i started to really wish for him the kind of love i was finding with my girlfriend. not that relationships are necessary for happiness of course, but my girlfriend and i are so happy, we wanted to spread it around. so we were thrilled when he started dating this smart, passionate woman and even more thrilled when we realized she was really making him happy. they’ve been together for a couple of years now, and it’s been great getting to know her better, too. she knows about people and places that are magnificent secrets of the bay area, and she knows how to connect to people that seem intimidating. like my girlfriend and friend forty-four’s boyfriend, she cares really big about important things, and she is a treasure for our friend. i’m happy for him and glad to have friend forty-four as part of my own circle of friends.