Mei-Mei's MoyaToyas
Mei-Mei and I have been friends since we were 12 and in the 7th grade. She convinced me to take the bus to Sunrise Shopping Center, the first really big mall on Long Island, and G'ma let me do it. Just the two of us, $20 for clothes in my pocket, and public transportation. I was used to the LIRR and commuters; for errands we took the car. But there we were, surrounded by people who needed the bus to get around town, who were on their way home from the store, bags puddles at their feet. I do believe it was the first time I realized that everyone didn't live as I did. I'm sure I didn't share that thought with Mei-Mei. I was busy pretending that this was something I did every day. The years and then we reconnected at our 40th high school reunion. We were the two little ones giggling, loudly. She looks the same as she did in 1969; the travails of the intervening decades made no mark on her. Her life hasn't been smooth and easy, though she ...