Nicole is my ‘gemela’, which is the Spanish word for ‘twin.’Two interesting facts that may better explain our nicknames:

1. We met in 2005 during a study abroad trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and;

2. We share the same birthday (I’m one year older)!

Some people you just know that in some twist of the universe, you were meant to find each other and be friends. Nicole is one of those people for me.

That we would travel from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts at the time and wind up building a friendship in a different continent is just crazy to me. In the early years, we drove nine hours each way to just see each other for a couple of days. In the pre-marriage world, our two-day visits could easily transform to a week or longer. We’ve celebrated countless birthdays together and have even pulled off a surprise visit or two. (I once met Nicole randomly at my Target a mile away from my house in Rochester, after she flew in and hailed a taxi to the store while I was on the phone with her).

She was the first person I told when I was pregnant with Zachary and the person who posted the news of his birth on Facebook while we enjoyed our first few hours alone with him. She and my kiddos have been FaceTime-ing each other since they were babies.

We’ve known each other longer than either of our husbands and we know how the other person ticks. There’s no hiding things or pretending things are fine in this relationship.

Nicole is a photographer herself and lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with her husband and their adorable blue-eyed baby boy who is now 2 years old. Watching her become insanely talented with her business and so beautifully molded to be little G’s momma is some of my greatest joy in life. Nicole even does special sessions with kiddos with Down syndrome because of and in honor of Zach.

The visits aren’t as frequent or as long-lasting as they used to be back in the day, but in a lot of ways, they’re better now. It only takes us a matter of minutes before we’ve poured some tea (or wine) and put on a chick flick or cooking show marathon while we play some pretty intense “Truth or Truth.”

My friendship with Nicole, mi gemela, is one that frames my adult life. I treasure our friendship so much.