Rosalie is a native of Bensonhurst, in Brooklyn, NY.  She attended Cornell University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English in 2000.  In 2007, she received her PHR (Professional in Human Resources) Certification, and is, without question, the world's best HR professional. No, really. BEST.

Rosalie and I met in September 1992, in the Publications Office (a.k.a., "The Pub") our freshman year at John Dewey High School in Bensonhurst.  I doubt she ever realized it, but she's the one who truly brought me out of my shell (I was painfully shy all the way up through junior high school, though you'd probably never know it now!).  We've been thick as thieves ever since, and have shared more laughs than I can remember ("Koch's Crotches, 99¢ per pound!"). 

We've always been Batman and Robin; Goose and Maverick; Shep and Curly; chocolate cake and American cheese.  ;)  We have the kind of solid and comforting friendship that can go six months without a phone call, just because life gets in the way – but when we do talk again, it's as though we're picking up the same, lifelong conversation, right where we left off last time.  She is, to my knowledge, the only other person besides myself who always has a pen on hand (usually red, just like any good editor) for personally correcting anything ranging from a newspaper or magazine article, to a sign in the window of a convenience store, to a hand-written sign on a telephone pole advertising somebody's yard sale. 

We've sat on the sidewalk for no particular reason; we've dined at the finest greasy diners Brooklyn has to offer; we've laughed and cried over everything and nothing for nearly seventeen years.  Rosalie is unofficially my family and has, since high school, always had a pair of pajamas and a toothbrush with her name on it at my Parents' house – even now, as they live in another state!  She's the single most selfless and caring person I've met in my life, and I love her with all my heart.