Like, for instance, we just learned the other day that un’amica stretta means “a close friend.” But stretta literally means tight, as in clothing, like a tight skirt. So a close friend, in Italian, is one you that can wear tightly, snug against your skin, and that is what my little Swedish friend Sofie is becoming to me.

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I am finally back from my road trip with Corelyn. We left last Saturday, April 23, and were on the road until Sunday, May 1. It was, as any road trip, a life-changing experience. We had a lot of adventures on the road, from the Grand Canyon to the Alamo, and I wouldn’t change a second of it.

On Monday, Corelyn put me back on a plane to LA. Neither of us cried, we just said goodbye, and I headed off. “I’m not going to watch you go through security,” Cor said, as we sat waiting as each moment ticked by. “So you don’t want to watch me inch forward and waive at me every one second?” I questioned. We laughed, but knew secretly we’d stay together every moment we could.

On the plane home, I started reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The above paragraph is from that novel, in her “Italy” section. As I sat on the plane, headed home, I let a few tears go reading that section. Corelyn is un’amica stretta. She is my close friend, and I will wear her tightly, cliché or not.

I will miss her as she starts a new chapter of her life back east, but I know we will always be sorelle. In New Orleans, we stopped at a house that had been left dilapidated by Hurricane Katrina. An artist has repainted one of its walls and left a section for you to answer the statement, “Before I die…” I wrote “Open a restaurant.” Corelyn wrote, “With JP.”

I believe someday, I will open a restaurant with Corelyn. It will probably be on Apple Tush Farms, the farm I plan to have with K, SS, and M. And, my friends, we will all live happily. ever. after. For now? Filling the chapters in between with my California adventures that will restart this weekend after being away for so long. Wish me luck, loves.