We've come a long way ...

"We all think we’re going to be great. And we feel a little bit robbed when our expectations are not met. But sometimes our expectations sell us short. Sometimes the expected simply pales in comparison to the unexpected. You’ve gotta wonder why we cling to our expectations. ..."
-- Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

My best friend from highschool (lets call her, Mustafa) had a baby girl about ... ummm six or eight months ago. I wish I had pictures to post, but unfortunately I don't have access - soon though, very soon.

Mustafa and I were polar opposites - she was the smartest kid in class, most popular, athletically challenged (hehe), student body president ... yada yada ... the girl had her life paved, she just had to walk the path. I, on the other hand, was FAR from the model student. Although I had some semblance of athletic ability, I was probably closer to the bottom of my class than the top (incredibly close to not graduating highschool), and was the thorn in the side of most of my teachers (although, I did make them laugh alot :)). Yet, we were inseparable for most of the last couple of years of highschool.

We talked alot about where we'd be 10 years out of high school. She had her heart set on medical school, although she later wavered before finally taking the plunge; I, incredibly enough, saw myself as a lawyer*. I must preface this though - I saw myself as a Jerry McGuire type of lawyer - making deals with high profile basketball stars :).

We often talked about reuniting post-highschool, and the scenario went something like this - she'd be waiting in a New York City cafe, in between her two major-high-profile surgeries of the day, and I'd arrive (in my stretch limo no less) in between my meetings with Michael Jordan (I truly believed he'd play well into his 50's) and Patrick Ewing (I don't know what I was thinking). And our mid-afternoon coffee meeting would be in all the press - high-profile attorney-doctor friends meet for coffee.

This year marks ten-years since I graduated high school (note: high school in India is until 10th grade, not 12th as it is here). Neither Mustafa nor I have achieved the high profile lives that we imagined all those years ago, and we've both shifted our focus a little since then. She's busy raising Norah, an absolutely gorgeous child, and I ... well I don't know what I'm doing. But ... we are both, academically, on the paths we set forth for ourselves 10 years ago.

I have no doubt (and never have doubted) that Mustafa and I will meet in a cafe years from now ... however, I seriously doubt that I'll be between meetings with Jordan and Ewing, or that it'll be in New York city. More likely that we'll be at a Washington, D.C. Cosi, giggling over hot chocolate and cookies, but no limousine or paparazzi around the corner. Yes, Mustafa will be a doctor, and I inshaAllah will be a lawyer, and we'll both be working to make the world a better place for little Norah to run around ... perhaps that'll be newsworthy too.

"...Because the expected is just what keeps us standing, still ... the expected’s just the beginning. The unexpected – is what changes our lives."
-- Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

*I often wonder how I imagined myself becoming a lawyer especially because I was such a terrible high school student. Goes to show that miracles do happen :)