Catching Up with KB

Today I was lucky enough to have lunch with my old East Village roommate, KB (she's actually KH, but I'll still refer to her as KB) and her beautiful baby, AH. It was a very nice time, although driving there I was forced to wonder why everyone was on the freeway and not at work. I know I worked a night job here in Los Angeles for 7 years and had my days free, but I thought I was in the minority.
Anyway, we met at Real Food Daily and it was a really nice time. We figured it had probably been about 8 years since we've seen each other. (The last time being dinner in Santa Monica where we saw Marcia Cross pre-"Desperate Housewives!" It's weird how much you don't see friends in Los Angeles, you just assume they'll be there until they're not.
Seeing KB reminded me that I'm lucky enough to have a handful of people in my life that are just truly amazing. With those people, it doesn't matter how many years have gone by, but when I see them, there's nothing weird of awkward (at least for me) and I'm able to just pick up where I left off. Yes, I do realize it's a bummer because KB is really incredible and I miss her being around, but still, she's one of those people I'm just happy to know.
Just being around KB brought back a lot of memories. I remember moving out of the dorm and then moving from an apartment on 4th Street and Bowery to another on 12th Street and Avenue A, then wanting to leave that apartment and KB was the one who kept me from being out on the street. I just carried my stuff by hand from one building to the other.
KB had to deal with the fact that sometimes I turn ice cold and silent for days on end, but she was always there to talk whenever I finally did say something. We lived on 11th Street and Avenue B back when there weren't cafes and yuppies, there were drug dealers and trash.
On Mondays, we would have "Family Values Night," which would consist of "7th Heaven" and "Ally McBeal." Katharine would usually order pizza and I would eat cheese sandwiches, sometimes pasta. I remember how thrilled we were when Lara Flynn Boyle made a cameo on "Ally McBeal" as her character from "The Practice." I remember how much we loved those WB commercials where they combined the starts from all their shows.
I remember the night "Titanic" opened. KB came back with a friend in shock at how much she loved the movie. "You have to see it," she told me. "OK, I will," I said. "No, you have to see it now," she said and she got on the telephone to get tickets and we were on our way a few minutes later.
There are very few people on the earth who've had to put up being in the same space as me for extended periods of time. I intentionally avoid spending large amounts of time with people because I know I'm a handful and can get on people's nerves pretty quickly. Those who do make it through the K-gauntlet unscathed deserve a medal. KB endured and I'm a better person for it. She was always gracious, always caring, always quick to laugh. Getting to spend time with her today, I realized she still all those things and more. She's also an incredible mother.
Yes, little AH was amazing. A pure sweetheart with a contagious smile and a sweet and surprisingly prescient demeanor. He seemed more interested in throwing his stuffed monkey and pumpkin on the floor than eating. When he did eat, the food ended up everywhere and the face he made as KB gave him some tofu was pretty delightful, as was the carrot strand that somehow glued itself to his lower lip. As he and his mom headed off in their rented yellow Mustang I thought about how lucky they both were to have each other, and how lucky I was to get to spend time with them this afternoon... and the world made a little more sense.