Winnie-the-Pooh said "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Pooh Bear, you're a wise fellow.

People come and go in our lives, sometimes leaving barely a ripple in the pond, sometimes causing a crashing white-capped wave to wash over us, leaving our landscape soaked, but infinitely changed. There are certain people we meet for a reason, whether its to shake us up, or ground us in some fashion.

Rachael was one of these catalysts in my life. 

We met at work, and bonded over a shared love of theater productions. I found a kindred spirit in the woman sitting across from me, as we laughed and talked over Stellas and sushi. 

Female friendships are varied and every one is unique. Because of the nature of our emotions, its not always easy to find a deeper connection with another woman, a connection that is far richer than that of a shopping, gossiping or partying relationship. 

But really, it took an emotionally challenging, draining event for Rachael and I to find that connection, and decide it was worth something. 

Over the years Rachael and I have supported each other, laughed, cried, and ranted with each other. 

I have never met anyone so young who had such a vast life story already. She feels deeply, with passion and exuberance. If I had known her during the formative years of young adulthood, I have a distinct feeling my life would be very different right now. 

Speaking of passion...passion is a heady thing. Whether it is for art, humanity, ecology, religion, it doesn't matter. If you can find your passion, and yes you can have more than one, you open up your existence to so many more possibilities! 

Rachael and I have always had one important thing in common: we both believed in living our passion, and in living wholeheartedly and with abandon. Hers was a passion for art in general, and acting in particular. Mine was also for art in general, and writing in particular. If I could have one wish in this world, this minute it would be that everyone had a true friend who could dream big, dream EXPANSIVELY with them. It is an inspiring thing, to work towards living your passion, alongside someone who believes emphatically that you both can do it.

Alas, we have now reached a crossroads in time. Rachael's journey is taking her away, not forever, but if she has anything to do with it, she probably won't be a permanent resident of the Sacramento area ever again. I couldn't be more proud of her if she were my kid, my sister, or my childhood friend. And as this epoch of our life comes to a close, a new moment in time blazes before us. And i want to send her off smiling, full of hope and determination. So Rachael, this new piece is for you:

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She didn't listen to their little ideas. Their minds couldn't comprehend an enormity of spirit such as hers.

They wanted to place her in a decoupage box, plastered with cut up pictures of "should" and "can't" and "don't."

They didn't know she'd already branded herself, tattooed every inch of her skin with "what if" and "why not." She'd weaved "possible" into the mahogany strands of her hair, and painted "passion" onto her fingers and toes. 

She swallowed "failure" every evening at dinner, and savored the taste...she knew she could not conquer what she did not know intimately. 

They watched her walk, swaying hips that did not twitch at their disbelief, and thought she would surely stumble.

As they watched her, they thought they knew what the future held. They read it in the lines of her neck, as she looked down the empty road, and in the footsteps she left in the mud. 

They watched...and watched...and watched...

And never once did they notice that all they watched was the path she'd left, and never turned their eyes to the path she took, a path that stretched to the horizon, like the sweep of her eyelashes as they rested on her cheek, never-ending.

But that's okay. They had little ideas. Their minds couldn't comprehend an enormity of spirit such as hers.

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I won't say good luck, Rachael, because someone with as much determination as you doesn't need it. I won't say good-bye, because I'll see you very soon. I won't say I'll miss you, because that word doesn't do justice the hole you'll leave behind. What I will say is thank you. Thank you for being my inspiration, and for being a fellow student in learning to live wholeheartedly, and for believing I could come as far as I have in my life. I will be sending you positivity and light and love from here, as I know you will be doing for me from where you'll be. Love you dearest.