For Maff

Yesterday, one of my favorite LM girls left the country to seek her fortune in the US. Ria, whom we fondly call Maff or Maffy (her full name being the mouthful Maria Francia Fatima), is going to be sorely missed by our circle, probably most by the people who loved razzing her about her Archie comics vocabulary (egad! haha), notorious one-liners ("I was sleeping like crazy!"), and penchant for words with an f and two zs (frazzled, fuzzy, etc.). We will also miss her unique sense of style, from the coordinated gold shoes and bag to the funky floral leggings she wears to bed, as well as her withering looks of exasperation and the intermittent, unheard apologies she issues to hapless pedestrians and fellow motorists while driving.

But as endearing and amusing as those trademark Maffy quirks are, what I will personally miss most about Maff is her brutal, almost blithely casual, sarcasm. Of all the LM girls, the two of us are closest in temperament and disposition. Pragmatic, outspoken, and unforgivingly frank, Ria never has any qualms about being perceived as an antagonist, and she never gives a whit about what other people may think of her, as long as the people she cares about know the truth. Like what I wrote for her law school yearbook write-up, I have always thought of her as Ally McBeal with a razor-sharp edge, minus the annoying hang-ups and hallucinations. She has an unforgiving, scathing outlook on life and love and all the bullshit in between, and if I've made her out to be some kind of hard-nosed bitch, that's because she IS a hard-nosed bitch. But as is the case with most bitchy people, there is a charm to Ria that's both wicked and wonderful.

Perhaps because Ria and I share the same unsentimental sensibility, I do not feel too sad about her departure. I will miss her, definitely, and I'm sure there will be days when I'll wish I could get together with her to just rant about random things and bash all the usual people we love bashing. But there's always YM, and email, and I know she'll be reading my blog more often now (she'd better!). And it will take more than a few measly thousand miles to put a strain on the kind of bond we share. Kindred spirit, zany character, beloved friend, Maff will always be an invaluable part of my life, and she will never be far from my thoughts, wherever her (mis)adventures in America may take her.