在有BFF之前，有最好的朋友。虽然我太老了，但我的室友和最古老的亲爱的朋友Louisa Kasdon'72，我们友谊开始于1968年的琥珀新英格兰秋天的秋季仍然感觉很新鲜，距离“永久”。

In 40 years, rarely has more than a week or two passed without a phone conversation. While Wellesley made the introduction, Louisa and I have diligently curated our friendship. As time and technology progress, email and text augment and punctuate our continuous conversations with real time commentary and images of lives changing.

The conversation started back at Wellesley. We’d talk about the world for hours on end. Cambodia and Vietnam were our global conflicts, despite our having been conceived in the embers and aftershock of World War II. Conversation and discussion permeated our process for decision-making—on big issues and small ones. “I don’t know what I think until it comes out of my mouth!” Louisa once said. Discussions have encouraged nuance; without them we are prone to simply react. A slew of decades offers time to reflect. Few major life events, heartwarming or heartbreaking, have escaped our continuous observations, analysis, and conversations. It all began in the shadows of the Well, Quad, and the President’s private box in Alumnae Hall.

路易莎和我都是“洞里斯利附近的”镇“：她是一个精致的城市女孩;我来自波士顿南部的郊区。我的家人是天主教徒;路易莎的家人是犹太人。我有幸通过进入Wellesley并被路易莎的神话般的家庭吸收来扩展我的狭隘的开端。与犹太相关组织一起工作的Penchant在我的家庭桌子和臭名昭着的剑桥浇水孔中最早的社会正义和变更时间奠定了框架。

In the spring of senior year, I met and married a young man who had grown up in Syria. A Palestinian by birth, he was recruited by a wealthy State Department patron to attend college in the United States—a process which required he adopt the official status of “stateless refugee.” We met in Harvard Square. Back then, academia was a melting pot and such a union would not have appeared unusual. Another roommate married an MIT grad student from Persia. Louisa was my maid of honor, and a short time later we celebrated her marriage to a brilliant pre-med she had met while at Wellesley. Life was a big tent, an imperfect one, but few, if any, were excluded because of who they were, or what they believed.

然后谈到以共同的激情为中心，改变世界，并将其注入到我们年轻的生命中。今天，我们分享了我们孩子们的成功和抓住孙子孙女的乐趣的积累惊险。我们惊讶地发现自己在世界上的时间改变了。它使我们的喜悦随着所爱的人，疾病，害怕变老而削减我们的快乐。生活触动我们所有人。

但重要的问题仍为我们。我们如何更好地触摸生活？这些触感如何帮助使这个世界更安全？为什么我们这么担心？当我们看新闻时，为什么我们经常哭？谈话很重要吗？我们如何改变现在发生的一些更具可怕和危险的谈话？为什么我们这么关心？

Louisa’s children are residing in Paris and California, but are living with the conflicts and consequences of European anti-Semitism and rising religious extremism. My son, living in the American West, tired of the innuendo, anti-Arab jokes, and random T.S.A. searches, still surprised me a few years ago by changing his Arabic-sounding surname. In today’s climate, I am sure his new wife is just as glad as I am. On my cell phone are photos my daughter sent of the SWAT team outside her window as she and her baby huddled, awaiting the apprehension of the Boston Marathon bomber during the shootout taking place in her usually quiet neighborhood.

That’s just a thumbnail of our stories. There is so much to think and say right now. We are still connected in our caring and deepening worry over the state of the world we leave to those whose lives also will be changed—changes so many of us fear.

在BFF世界中，任何人都可以随时随地连接任何地方 - 从性交到极端主义意识形态。潜在的BFF沿着社交媒体融合，动力的交叉路径排队，并通过数十亿瞬间的“喜欢”和股票。单击通过和开放率，测量并判断会话内容并判断成功。喜欢，评论和股票 - 人们表明他们关心的方式 - 只提供反思的外星。我们生活在陨石新闻周期中，但这一切都是什么意思？

我们可以做些什么来恢复讨论，激情和参与的乐趣，支持勇气说话或采取行动？最近的一些民意调查，推文和选民焦点小组表明，这一总统选举季节在谈话中释放了真相的时刻。就像许多人一样看到一个无与伦比的仇恨洪流，对纳粹意识形态的兴起进行了比较。但有一件事是真的，除非我们改变这个谈话，否则它有能力改变我们。

如果我今天进入Wellesley，这就是在我的生活中可能在生命中发挥作用。

这些天我可能没有进入Wellesley，但我们假设我做了。路易莎和我可能会在政治学中发短信101 - 比较关于对事物的反应的票据，并对我们周围的人发表评论。我们正在寻找PC表情符号，并与朋友玩单词，我们的眼睛陷入困境和危险的姿势。我们不会在图书馆见面。我们的设备在我们面对面的对话之前。我在Facebook上有更多的朋友。我肯定是“部分”一个更大的世界 - 但我会吗？今天，我的丈夫可能无法被允许进入美国，我心爱的孩子和孙子们可能不会出生。

在写这篇文章的同时，我荣幸地与玛莎孙子和陪同俱乐部，两个居民的Wellesley镇举行会议，他做了很少有美国人可能会这样做的。1939年，锐利选择将自己的孩子留到布拉格和法国南部，帮助拯救那些需要逃离纳粹的人。他们专注于持续救济和移民援助六年，从而从注册难民那里到达监狱的释放，以安排旅行到更安全的国家。由于他们孙子的不懈工作，这对夫妇的故事已经保留，并将活跃于千年之内。想象一下，由于锐利的无私勇气，那些被拯救的人将出生有多少个后裔。

Imagine what would happen today. If the Sharps had been communicating via email and text, would it have been just a little easier to turn one’s back on the plight of the refugees? I am certain that the couple would have acted heroically at any moment in history because of their values and uncommon desire to serve. But I am less sure about us more ordinary individuals who can barely keep up with email, Facebook notifications, and our news feeds. Our world is as dangerous as can be. Starting a conversation is a small thing, but changing a global one can start with each of us.

今年，我们可以放下我们的设备，更频繁地面对面说话吗？我们可以更多地了解我们的相似之处吗？我们可以在寻求成为人类方面变得更加勇敢吗？我们可以致力于更深入的对话，持久友谊，共享，诚实的情绪吗？如果我们这样做，我从经验中知道我们可以改变对话。