Thirteen of us, BFF's, hanging out at the mall on Saturdays, having sleepovers on weekends, sharing histories, working through our diversities, our problems with our moms, boys, zits and being "fat," we thought we had it all together.

Until our losses began to stack up in the form of our close friend's death, problems with our diversities that threatened to split us up, parents losing their jobs in the deepening recession, some of us losing our homes, some of us losing our way;and on top of that, the mall, our favorite hangout haven on the planet closing its doors... not until then did...

Thirteen of us, BFF's, hanging out at the mall on Saturdays, having sleepovers on weekends, sharing histories, working through our diversities, our problems with our moms, boys, zits and being "fat," we thought we had it all together.

Until our losses began to stack up in the form of our close friend's death, problems with our diversities that threatened to split us up, parents losing their jobs in the deepening recession, some of us losing our homes, some of us losing our way;and on top of that, the mall, our favorite hangout haven on the planet closing its doors... not until then did...