Anniversaries

This is the week of anniversaries. Princess Diana died 10 years ago; and it was also 10 years ago that I arrived at Silicon Valley as an intern with Netscape and experienced the early boom of the Internet era (also was my first time living in the US for an extended period); my wedding anniversary is coming up later this week; and since I just sent off my good friend Marei, who is leaving for good to Chicago and then Germany, this week will be her Boston-departure anniversary.

For me, anniversaries are bittersweet as they often remind me that life is fleeting. It is also when nostalgia kicks in. The glowing Boston sunshine outside my window brings me back to 189 Buckthorn Way in Menlo Park, California. This is where my good friend Thomas and I first stayed during our 1997 Netscape internship. Those four months were one of the happiest times of my life. We met a great number of inspiring and thoughtful friends. I still remember vividly the couple who lent us their mattress; and how Sandy, who has since become one of my best friends, took us around to cheap, but great, Chinese food. It was also when my burgeoning desire to get into research was encouraged. The unique decorations of cubicles at Netscape were eye-opening, for the first time I saw that computer geeks can also be great artists.

Looking forward 10 years, I wonder how Marei's time in Boston will be remembered by her and by me? Just in case, I will backup some of the most precious memories here:

• Braving the morning cold to get BSO College Card tickets
• Plum Island
• Moving to 172 Central
• Moving to 210 Summer
• Movie Nights at Amit's
• NH Hiking Trips
• DC
• Food, food, and food