Jack and I went to Sonny’s wedding in NYC today.  Robin and Patrick were there too.  Seeing Sonny so happy makes me happy.  I know it makes Robin happy too.  Jack didn't really want to go since he doesn't particularly care for Sonny (so he'll fit right in with my family!).  But he's always been very considerate of our friendship.  As has my family, really.  Reluctantly, but they have.  Patrick too, actually.  They know what Sonny means to me.  And Robin.  I'm really glad we all went.

I was just sitting there in that church looking at Sonny on the altar and all I could think about was the first time we really met.  My mother was fighting breast cancer and Stone was dying.  My famliy constantly shut me out.  I know they didn't want to scare me but I was already scared.  My mother was sick and my friend was going to die.  But they thought if they didn’t show me their own fears, I wouldn’t have a reason for harboring my own.  Like, somehow, I wouldn’t notice how messed up everything had become and I wouldn’t be afraid.  But I was.  I was 8 years old.  I knew Stone was dying and I thought my mother was next.  The day I met Sonny, my father took me to the hospital to see my mother.  She was very weak from the chemo and my father asked me to sit in the hall while he and my brothers talked to the doctors.  I guess he thought that since he was the Chief of Staff and everyone knew who I was, I wouldn’t be able to wander off.  But I couldn’t just sit there.  So I wandered.  And I found myself in the hospital chapel.  I went to the altar and I pleaded with God to save my mother.  To stop what was happening to Stone from happening to my mother.

I sat there feeling scared and alone.  Like no one in the world could help me.  And there was Sonny.  I didn’t even hear him come in, maybe because I was crying, but it was as if he just appeared out of nowhere.  He comforted me.  Talked to me.  Told me everything was going to be OK even if he didn’t necessarily believe it.  It’s all I had wanted to hear.  What I needed to hear.  He was consumed with grief over what was happening to Stone, but he managed to comfort a scared little girl.

Since then Sonny and I have always shared a certain closeness.  Robin has a similar relationship with Sonny because of Stone.  I can’t describe what his being there, on that day, in that chapel, has meant to me.  And I know Robin feels the same way.  That’s why neither of us could ever turn our backs on Sonny.

I had an interesting couple of days and in thinking about how I'm going to attempt to write this journal, I realized that if anyone were to actually read this thing, they would probably have no idea who these people are and how I know them.  So here's a little cheat sheet for the people in my life who may or may not even appear in this journal so that I don't have to clog up my entries with long explanations.


My Family (The Quartermaine's!)

-Alan:  My father, he's the Chief of Staff at the hospital.

-Monica:  My mother, also a doctor (cardiologist).

-AJ:  My oldest brother.

-Carly:  My sister-in-law, AJ's wife.

-Michael:  My nephew, AJ and Carly's oldest son

-Morgan:  My nephew, AJ and Carly's youngest son

-Jason:  My next oldest brother. 

-Skye:  My oldest sister.

-Lila Rae:  My neice and Skye's daughter.  She the newest edition to our family.  She was born last year.

-Emily:  My next oldest sister via adoption.  She went to med school (at Harvard) and is an intern.

-Nikolas:  My soon-to-be brother-in-law, Emily's fiancee.  He's descended from Greco-Russian nobilty.  Seriously.

-Spencer:  My nephew, Nikolas and Emily's son

-Dawn:  My sister.  She died when I was 4.

-Edward:  My grandfather, Dad and Tracy's father.  He's ornery and very hard to please.  He built the family company with my grandmother.

-Lila:  My beloved grandmother, Dad and Tracy's mother.  She was the glue, the heart and soul of our family.  She died in July of 2004.

-Tracy:  My aunt and Dad's sister.  She is a force to be reckoned with!

-Ned:  My cousin and Tracy's oldest son.  Ned's ususally pretty busy since, in addition to his duties at our family's company, he often helps Lois and Brenda run their record company.

-Lois:  Ned's wife.  She's from Brooklyn and is absolutely hilarious.  She and Brenda run a record company.

-Brook Lynn:  My cousin and Ned and Lois' daughter.  She has a beautiful voice and studies opera at Juilliard.

-Dillon:  My cousin and Tracy's youngest son.  He's not just my cousin, but one of my best friends.  He's studying film at NYU so he and Brook live together in the penthouse Ned owns in NYC.

-Justus:  My cousin, a lawyer.  One of the most normal people in my family.  And he gives the best advice.  I adore him.  He runs the family foundation.  When I was growing up (and sometimes, today), people didn't believe that we were really blood related because Justus is black.

-Jimmy Lee:  My uncle

-Bradley:  My uncle, Justus' father, Grandfather's son, Tracy, Alan, and Jimmy Lee's brother.  This is a little complicated.  Before he met my grandmother, Grandfather had an affair with Mary Mae, a respected African-American in the community in the WWII era, which resulted in Bradley.  Grandfather really loved Mary Mae but they knew it would be too hard to make a life together, so they ended the relationship.  Bradley died before my grandfather even knew he existed, but since he found out in 1994, Justus became an official part of the family and he and Grandfather have become close.

-Mary Mae:  Bradley's mother and Justus' grandmother.  One of the town's most respected women, I used to sit on her lap and listen to her stories.  She died when I was 9 in 1996.

-Scott:  Technically, my uncle.  He's my mom's adopted brother (my mom was adopted too, but not until she was older) and a lawyer.  In fact, he's the DA.

-Gail:  My grandmother, Monica and Scott's adoptive mother, respected member of the community

-Lee:  My grandfather, Monica and Scott's adoptive father, respected member of the community

-Karen:  Scott's oldest daughter, my cousin, a doctor

-Serena:  Scott's middle daughter, my cousin.  She's three years younger than me.

-Christina:  Scott's youngest daughter, my cousin



My Friends (from home) and Friends of the Family

-Maxie:  My best friend.  I've known Maxie my entire life.  When we were kids we did everything together and still do generally.  She studying fashion at the New York School of Design.

-Jack:  Maxie's uncle (he's only a few years older than us) and my boyfriend

-Georgie:  Maxie's younger sister and Dillon's girlfriend.  She's two years younger than Maxie, Dillon, and I.  She's planning to major in sociology at Columbia.

-Mac:  Maxie and Georgie's stepdad.  He's the police commissioner.  Mac's been pretty much the only dad Maxie and Georgie have known.  He raised them, his neice Robin and, to some extent, me.  Mac was like a second father to me growing up.

-Robin:  Mac's neice, Maxie and Georgie's cousin.  She's like a sister to me.  She went to Yale (BOO!  LOL) and the Sarbonne in Paris.  She was Jason's first (and probably only real) love.  He's been in other relationships, but I don't think he's cared about another woman as deeply as Robin.  When they broke up she left for Paris (she was there for years but came home about three years ago), went to med school, and became a doctor.  She's also HIV+.

-Felicia:  Maxie and Georgie's mom and Mac's wife.  She helped Mac raise Robin and he helped her with Maxie and Georgie.  I love Felicia.  Like Mac, she was like another parent to me.

-Brenda:  Robin and Lois' best friend, Sonny's ex-girlfriend, and a beloved friend of my family's.  Brenda's like yet another sister to me.  My family adores her.  She fun and outgoing.  She lived with us for a while and let's just say life was never dull with Brenda around!  I miss her being around the house even though she only lives across town now!  She runs the record company with Lois.

-Jax:  Brenda's Australian husband, business tycoon.

-Cooper:  A good friend of Jack's and Brenda's nephew. He's in the Police Academy.

-Patrick:  Robin's boyfriend.  He's incredibly hot and a neurosurgeon to boot.  Lucky Robin!  LOL.

-Matt:  Patrick's brother, Maxie's boyfriend, and Jack's friend.  He's in med school.

-Noah:  Matt and Patrick's father.  Also a doctor.  Must run in the family!

-Stone:  I can't really mention Robin without mentioning Stone.  He was Robin's first boyfriend.  They were so in love.  He died from AIDS in 1995.  He was only 19.  He played with Maxie and I alot as kids and the entire town was devastated when he died.

-Robert:  Robin's dad, Mac and Jack's oldest brother, and Luke's best friend.  And he is as awesome as Luke.  We thought he was dead for years (he and Anna were presumed dead), but he turned up a couple of years ago.  Robin was happy that he was alive, but felt abandoned since they "died" in 1992 when she was 15, leaving her in the care of her Uncle Mac.

-Anna:  Robin's mom, Robert's ex-wife.  Robin found out her mom was alive and living in Pennsylvannia in 2001, but she didn't have any memory of her life before the accident.  She eventually recovered her memory and they happily reunited.

-Frisco:  Maxie and Georgie's real dad and Felicia's ex-husband.  I don't really know Frisco that well.  I remember when he came home when Maxie was really sick (also when Georgie was conceived).  He left afterward and came back once after Georgie was born and we haven't seen him since.  He's also one of Robin's godfathers.

-Sean:  A friend of my parents.  He used to be the police commissioner but retired.  He's another of Robin's godfathers.

-Tiffany:  Sean's wife.

-Luke:  Tracy's ex-husband.  I still think of him as family.  I love Luke.  He's fun and he made living in the Quatermaine house even more interesting.  He's the one who calls me Ali Q.

-Laura:  Luke's wife, the love of his life.  Even when he was with Tracy, I figured he'd eventually find his way back to Laura.  They've been in love since she was a teenager.  Mother of Nikolas (not Luke's) and Lucky and Lulu (Luke's)

-Lucky:  Luke and Laura's son, Nikolas' half-brother.  My former step-cousin. A detective.

-Elizabeth:  Lucky's wife, Emily's best friend.  They have two children Cameron and Jake.  Emily, Nikolas, Lucky, and Elizabeth used to call themselves the Four Muskateers when they were in high school.  They did everything together.

-Lulu:  Luke and Laura's daughter, Lucky's sister, Nikolas' half-sister, my former step-cousin.  I've known Lulu most of my life (she's a little younger than I am, but my family adores her mother), but I didn't really get to know her until her dad married my aunt and they lived with us while Luke and Tracy were married.  Lucky was already living on his own then.

-Spinelli:  One of my friends.  He's kind of a geek, but I love him anyway.  He knows everything about computers.  And he lives with Jason.  Don't ask why.  They have a strangely close relationship.  But Spinelli makes everything strangely interesting.

-Kevin:  Mac's best friend and a colleague of my parents, a psychiatrist.

-Lucy:  Felicia's best friend and Kevin's wife.  Lucy's kind of weird, but she grows on you.  She runs a club that Luke owns.

-BJ:  A childhood friend of mine and Maxie's as well as Maxie's cousin.  BJ was a year older than us.  She died in a school bus accident when she was 9.

-Tony:  BJ's father, Frisco's brother, and a friend of my parents.  Tony's a doctor and works with my parents. 

-Bobbie:  Tony's wife, BJ's mother, Luke's sister, and Carly's mother.  She's a nurse which is how she met Tony.

-Lucas:  A friend, Tony and Bobbie's son and BJ's younger brother.  He's Lulu and Brook Lynn's age.

-Sonny:  A very unlikely friend of mine.  The business that he owns is a direct competitor of my family's company.  Needless to say, for that reason he's not exactly popular in my household, but Sonny and I have been close since I was about 8 years old.  He's also a good friend of Luke and Robin's and a business competitor of my family's company.  He took in Stone (his parents abandoned him and he lived on the street) and paid all his medical bills when we all found out he had AIDS.  Stone was like Sonny's little brother.

-Alexis:  Nikolas' aunt.  She's a great lawyer.  Has three daughters, Sam, Kristina (not to be confused with Scott's Christina), about 6, and Molly, almost a year

-Ric:  Alexis' husband, Kristina and Molly's father, also a lawyer

-Sam:  Alexis' adult daughter, Nikolas' cousin


My School Friends
(I've suddenly realized just how many people I've met and become friends with while at school so I'll just list my closest friends, the people I most hang out with)

-Brighton:  My roommate, Delta Gamma sorority sister and best friend from school.  She's from White Plains, New York in Westchester County.  Our families have neighboring houses on Martha's Vineyard so we grew up spending our summers together dreaming of going to Cornell together.  And now we're living the dream!

-Kingsley:  Brighton and I met Kingsley and Logan (see below) our freshman year and the four of us have been pratically inseparable since.  We're all political science or history majors and minors so we try and take classes together.  And we all live in the sorority house together.  Kings is from Greenwich, Connecticut.

-Logan:  Kingsley's roommate and our sorority sister.  She's from Boston.

-Greenlee:  A friend and sorority sister from Sewickley, Pennsylvania.  Journalism and political science double major.

-Royce:  A Sigma Pi brother (most of my guy friends tend to be since it's the frat my sorority does the most with) from Boston where he knew Logan (she introduced Brighton and Royce).  Brighton's boyfriend.  Pre-law.

-Holden:  Sig Pi brother from Brighton's stomping grounds:  White Plains.  Engineering major.  Royce and Holden are roommates and the best of friends.  I love them because they always include Jack when he comes and visits.  And luckily it's not just to appease me, the three of them have become really good friends.  So much so that they yap on and on about sports that they forget us girls are even around (except Holden, he ALWAYS knows where Logan is.  LOL)  He and Brighton grew up together and their families are very close.  They're like brother and sister.  He has the most adorable crush on Logan, but she's completely oblivious.

-Phillip:  Also a Sigma Pi brother.  Pre-med from Charleston, South Carolina.

-Waverley:  DG sister from Newport, Richmond, Virginia.  Phillip's girlfriend.  Pre-law and Spanish major.

-Easton:  DG sister from Rhode Island.  Biological sciences major.

-Skip:  Sig Pi brother.  History and political science double major (so he studies with us a lot!) from Chicago.

-Erik:  Sig Pi brother.  Kingsley's boyfriend.  Has become pretty good friends with my cousin Dillon.  Pre-law.  From Manhattan.

-Caldwell:  Sig Pi brother.  Econ and business double major from Maine.

-Hatcher:  Sig Pi brother from Charlotte, North Carolina.  Business major.

-Emory:  DG sister from New Hampshire.  English major.

-Julia:  A friend of mine from another sorority (gasp!  LOL).  Psychology major from Florida.

-Ethan:  Sig Pi brother.  History major.