about

In the fall of 1993, I stepped apprehensively through the doors of my new home - the 3rd floor of Idaho State University's Turner Hall. With two bags and a saxophone in hand, I met my new next door neighbor, Kristi Bills. She was exactly what I wasn't - social!

Within days of arrival, her invitations to movies and dances came, and with each invitation, I politely declined my new neighbor's overtures. This went on for six weeks. Finally, one morning on my way to class, as I waited for the elevator doors to close, I heard someone running frantically down the hall.

Kristi Bills flung her body between the nearly closed elevator doors, and very matter-of-factly declared, "I am TRYING to be your friend, but you need to do your part, Deb!" She then firmly invited me to dinner one more time, and soon after accepting that invitation, I was initiated into the new and wonderful world of female friendships.

That was over 30 years ago. Through marriage and divorce, business endeavors, and most recently, an inconvenient case of cancer, it has been the women in my life who have shown up again and again to celebrate with me on the wins, and buoy me through the losses.

Now standing firmly in middle age, it is my turn to pause amid all the busyness of life to enthusiastically cheer on the women still in the thick of it.

Zenzari.org is my corner of the internet where I get to lift and support the magnificent sisterhood of women I care about so deeply.

All my best!

Deb Evans

Zenzari