my friend robyn (lyn)

A little over a year ago, I was on the subway, and began a conversation with a woman holding a playbill.  We started talking about theater, and before we came to our respective stops, we learned that we were neighbors.  The buildings we live in are on the same exact block, just two buildings over from each other.  We are both single mothers, she works full time and I wish I did, and we both love theater and movies.  We quickly became friends.

Robyn is a size zero, has a great style sense, and works out all the time.  She swims almost every day, goes to the gym often, and rides her bike to and from the soup kitchen where she volunteers every Saturday.  But the primary reason Robyn works out, as she says, is to create a diversion from shopping.  For example, after volunteering on Saturday mornings, Robyn would frequently find herself in the Loehmann’s that is near the soup kitchen.  So now she rides her bike the almost five miles each way to the soup kitchen to avoid shopping at Loehmann’s, since bikes are not allowed in the store.  

Robyn is also amazingly honest.  She’s like that Jim Carrey character in Liar Liar who, after a spell is cast on him, is incapable of telling a lie.  Robyn is incredibly gregarious and is always meeting people; men especially are drawn to her.  There’s this one guy who is pursuing her (someone is always pursuing Robyn), but she’s not interested.  So rather than say, “I’m busy tonight” when he asks her out, she asks me to ask her to do something, so she’ll have a legitimate excuse to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t.  I already have plans.”

Robyn is thoughtful and generous.  She is incapable of coming to my house empty handed.  I never give Hanukkah gifts, but she surprised me and gave me a Weight Watchers cookbook, the absolute perfect gift.  


Robyn is a great listener, is not judgmental, and will only give her opinion when asked.   She'll tell me honestly that something doesn't fit well (but again, only if I solicit her opinion), or if the boots someone gave me are too butch looking, or if a pair of "real" earrings look like costume jewelry.

Tonight Robyn came over to watch a movie.  She looked at me and said, “You really look thin.  You used to have a belly.  Now it’s just a little bump.  It’s cute.”

Cute?  I’m not sure about that, but having a little bump is certainly preferable to having a big paunch. 

As this year comes to an end, I feel fortunate that I've found a new, good friend.