A Friendship Forged In Big Law

2011. September. Monday.

I had been working in Big Law for a month, in an office on the 26th floor of a midtown Manhattan high-rise. Since my first day that office was mine alone, but that was about the change. Because this was the day I would be getting an office-mate. 

The "office-mate" is an interesting Big Law phenomenon. The firm takes an office that really is meant for one person and shoves in a second desk and chair and some extra shelves, and asks two virtual strangers to share the space for an indeterminate amount of time while working ridiculous hours under unbelievably stressful deadlines. The office-mate stories rival freshman year of college roommate stories in that the pairings are rarely just ok, but are generally either a complete match made in heaven or an absolute horror show.

I didn't know who she was, but I knew her name because a couple of days before someone from maintenance had come around and added it to the little sign outside the door. And I knew when she was arriving because I was told to move all of the files that I had been storing for the past few months on the empty desk that would be hers.

And then she was there.

Sometimes you meet someone, and just click. You know what I mean. It's like you have been friends forever even though you have only known each other for approximately 45 seconds. It was like that for us. Within a couple weeks we knew all about each other's families and about each other's lives. She became one of my most loyal blog readers. We had endless things in common. We told secrets we hadn't told anyone else, save for our significant others. We shared. A lot.

I was there when she got engaged and she was there when I got the call that my sister had a baby, making me an aunt for the first time. I danced at her wedding and she came to my house for Jewish holiday meals. We helped each other with some tough stuff and I'm not sure I would have made it to the other side without her there to see me through.

We don't share an office anymore, both of us having moved up and into our own, but we're the same as we always were. Not work friends. Real friends. Our friendship may have been forged in the crucible of Big Law, but it will no doubt last long after we have taken our leave of these high powered halls.

And today. Today a bunch of us got together to celebrate this amazing girl and incredible friend and send her off in style as she heads out on maternity leave.

Thanks for everything, A, we'll miss you on the home front. Wishing you months of happiness, love and excitement, and a beautiful and miraculous baby.