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When The Stars Align: From Chennai to LA

Nandini at one of the Pretzel Logic company picnics

The most extraordinary thing happened last weekend, but first, a bit of history.

I worked at a small start-up called Pretzel Logic Software nearly thirty years ago. When I joined, it was a company of male engineers and founders. I was the first woman hired full-time to handle the growing company’s administrative duties. I learned after joining that a woman came in on the weekend to manage the accounting, but she worked Saturday, so time went by before we met. 

Nandini and I eventually met one Saturday, and we connected immediately. We quietly revealed to one another that we were pregnant with our first child. Fast forward to the birth of our sons, Anand and Chris, who were born just six weeks apart.

Out of the workforce and searching for our footing as new mothers, we met once a week with the boys, first at Nandini’s place and later at ours. We had park dates and trips to the pumpkin patch, and in the winter, we hung out at an indoor playground called Bamboolas, where the boys could play, and we could chat, knowing they couldn’t run off. As they got older we went to Ardenwood Historic Farms for hay rides, we road the Roaring Camp railroad steam train through the redwoods, and we enrolled them in a Music Together program. I’ve stockpiled so many memories of those early years.

I was heartbroken when they needed to move back to India to support their family. Our boys were still in pre-school. Anand and Chris turn 28 this year. 

I’ve stayed in touch with Nandini through long-distance phone calls and emails and later through the much-improved live chats. The 13.5-hour time change makes it challenging, but we work it out.

Anand returned to the US to study and work. He met and married a lovely woman in February of this year. She’s a medical student at UCLA. They wed in Chennai and returned to LA for work and school, but the bride’s family wanted a reception in the US for extended family and friends. And that is how we get from Chennai to LA. 

Imagine my delight when I learned Nandini would be in California for a few weeks, I made a plan. Chris, my husband Mike, and I would fly to LA. My youngest son, Mac, lives just an hour’s drive away in Orange County so he could easily join us as well.

I flew down early Friday so Nandini and I could spend an entire day together. We hugged, laughed, talked endlessly about everything, held hands, and wished it wouldn’t end. We walked around an open-air shopping center, had lunch, walked some more, and later had tea, one of our long-held traditions. It was an extraordinary day.

On Saturday, both families met for lunch in West Hollywood at a fabulous vegan Mexican restaurant called Gracias Madre. We posed for photos, walked to the corner for ice cream, then visited the newlyweds home before we eventually had to part company for our flight home. Our friends returned to India earlier this week.

West Hollywood

Friendships can ebb and flow. Sometimes, you lose touch, or you grow apart. It’s been a joy staying connected to Nandini all these years, overcoming distance and time zones to keep the friendhsip alive.

I’m still on a cloud from the weekend and grateful that the stars aligned to make it possible.

32 thoughts on “When The Stars Align: From Chennai to LA”

  5. How lovely Alys. Some friendships really stand the test of time don’t they. I have two or three friends that I can pick up with after long periods of minimal contact as if we’ve never been apart. It’s a very special thing and I’m so glad the stars aligned for your two families to meet up and make some more memories to treasure

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  12. More than anything, I hate to lose people I care about for any reason. Miles apart or gone permanently, I continue to love and miss them. Anyone who has touched my life in any way, always holds a spot in my heart forever. This tells me you feel the same. Continents are no obstacle nor time. I love all the photos of the people you hold dear. I’m so happy you were able to reconnect.

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