Meeting in medical school back in 2011, Valerie and Will quickly became the best of friends; he kept her sane with his practicality, she kept him grounded with her teasing. After school, Valerie and Will began their residency in different states, but still managed to stay close. For Valentine’s Day, Valerie wanted to give her long-distance best friend an original song that would make him laugh and feel loved, touching on all their favorite memories together.
 

 
“I met my best friend, Will, back in 2011 in medical school at Midwestern University. He helped keep me sane during very difficult schooling by dragging me to the anatomy lab on weekends or down into “the cave” to study (the basement of our dorm). Now we both are in residency; him in pediatrics in Madison, WI and me in Family Medicine in Chicago, IL.
 
Our favorite story from going out was when we brought our “to-go wine” to our friend Rob’s show. We left it outside of the bar because we couldn’t finish it fast enough and on the way out (hours later) it was still there so Will picked it back up and finished it.
 
During medical school, I somehow got a cavity on the front of my front tooth. I blamed Will because he was the person I spent all of my time with and obviously he must have let me walk around with chocolate on my tooth all day or something, because I still don’t know how I could get a cavity there any other way. Now he is hyper-vigilant about telling me when there’s something in my teeth and he gets more nervous at my dentist appointments than I do.
 
I miss seeing him every day but when we do see each other we like to run races. We did the Chicago Marathon together twice, the Chicago polar dash dressed as penguins, and the Monster Dash dressed as Sally and Jack Skellington. (I was Jack, Will was Sally. He looked alarmingly good in a dress). Although I’m not quite crazy enough to do triathlons, I like to go watch him when he competes and he is signed up for an Ironman this year in Madison. Will is also deceptively agile for his frame and is a beast on the volleyball court. He helped take our intramural team at Midwestern to victory two years in a row, winning the coveted t-shirt prize.
 
I also really like to tease Will because though he is the most impressive person I know, there are two things he doesn’t do well: see colors (he is red-green colorblind) and clot (when he gets a cut it takes forever to heal). One night when we had a few too many drinks we tested his bleed time and it was 14 minutes (normal is 3-10 min). He also says his “a’s” weird because he is from Wisconsin. In particular he has a really hard time with “bagel” and “vague”.
 
Together, we are a mean karaoke duo. Our specialties are Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and Rick Springsteen’s “Jessie’s Girl”. As a Wisconsin boy, Will hates the Cubs and can’t stand it when the Cubs song is played. Next time we go to karaoke I’m going to secretly sign us up for this song.
 
Will tries to say that Wisconsin is shaped like a hand. As a native Michigander myself, I always point out that there is only one mitten state and it is Michigan.
 
Will is incredibly practical. In the Myers Briggs personality scheme he is a very strong “T,” meaning that he makes decisions based on facts rather than feelings; if he does anything that comes off as harsh but true, I always say “that’s rather “T” of you”. That being said, he has a soft spot for me because I’m his best friend.
 
Will makes me feel very special and like I can do things I never thought I could (like the marathon and countless other races we have done together). He inspires me to be a better person. Also, we are on a weight loss journey together and he has lost almost 90 pounds and is looking FINE.”