I feel like I've known Katz forever. Maybe because our friendship has seen group work, documentaries, summer classes and petty fights in college, to us moving overseas, her building a family, and well, me, trying to see them whenever I can.
Time with Katz, and later on her family, is always full of music and joy. Max, her first born, was humming Welcome to New York during one visit, and I told him there's a longer version than what they have in the film The Secret Life of Pets. (I believe the song made Katz's most played that year).
It was Katz who introduced me to Wicked, starting with the song For Good. Through the years, I'd send her a song or a new artist I'd just discovered and she would do the same. About two years ago, I posted an Instagram story about Sara Bareilles' show at the Hollywood Bowl and she responded with "I'm planning to gooooooo." I'm so glad we made it happen, because Sara opened that show with my favorite song of hers.
Every chance I got to see her in DC, I've taken. Sometimes, we'd just hang out or go to a museum or get Peruvian chicken, and sometimes, she'd surprise me with a show to see. And now that she's in LA, we still have the same routine, except we're on the other coast.
Whenever we see each other, we talk about our careers, what we're most excited about, what exhausts us. Funnily enough, I have always spent time with Katz just before a big career move. I was in DC a month before moving to Singapore for the first time. A week after I signed my offer from Facebook, I found myself in DC again. And four years ago, I was sitting at her dining table, doing an early morning call when I was told I got the New York role. Through all of that, Katz was my cheerleader, and whenever I had doubts, all I needed was her voice reminding me I could do it.
Katz has gone through something unimaginable, and to say her courage is remarkable is an understatement, and I think for the first time since embarking on this project, I'm at a loss for words. I have a lot of things I will always be grateful for, and high on that list is that I managed to be in DC when she needed me most.
There are a lot of great things that came from my decision to switch courses and eventually move universities – and one of them was meeting Katz. Guess the universe always has a funny way of "leading us to those who help us most to grow."