As my attention wanes back to the blog as the place I’d like to focus my attention, I’m trying to figure out what is My Voice. All the big “How to Have a Successful Blog” articles tell you you need A Voice. I thought I had A Voice, but it turns out voices come with magical statements. So after one evening of painting and one day of making flowers to think about my magical theme statement, I came back to where I started months ago. This blog is really just a place for me to talk to Amber, my college roommate. If the rest of you listen in and get something from it, well, that’s swell, too.
Why is talking to Amber so important? Well, she is the coolest (which we’ll get to in a second), but she is interested in 100% of the parts of my life. We can go from talking about our purposes on this earth to what’s the best fast food hamburger and back again in a heartbeat. She would be interested in new recipes I’m trying, pictures of my new house, and the heartfelt output of an emotional situation – all things I want to talk about here. So there you go. Welcome to the blog, Magical Statement.
Without further ado, let’s talk about Pablo. In my typical “Hero” stories, I let the heroes write for themselves, but for this one, I want to tell you why Amber rules.
1. She is the most silent sleeper I know. This was critical to the initial success of our friendship, seeing as we were roommates before we were Super Friends and I am a princess, even when I sleep.
2. We once had a totally make believe conversation over IM one college summer where we “talked” in fake voices and totally made up storylines. This happened right in the middle of a real conversation, which we jumped back into like it was no big deal after about 20 minutes of make believe. Amber is the only person I know who I could do this with. Bonus: I don’t think we ever talked about it again, which made it even cooler.
3. During college, Amber got to do Semester at Sea. Shortly after college, she married the man of her dreams. After a bit, two crazy adorable kids came on the scene. She cherished these parts of her life and I along with her in a way that never made me jealous, only happy for her. These all happened in times in my life where I would have given my right pinkie toe to do the same, I don’t know how this is possible. Our bond is that strong?
4. Ok, I lied in #3. One of those things damn near killed our friendship, BUT once I got my head on straight and learned to be happy for her, our friendship was stronger and I had learned a lesson. Thanks for that, Pablo.
5. I can tell you exactly where I was in the Milwaukee airport when I spoke with Amber to tell her my dad had his accident. Another bestest-person-in-my-life had spent the night with me and I had just made it through security. I remember Amber telling me she had been dreading that call since we first met. I don’t remember the rest of our conversation. I’m wondering if there was any more conversation. Maybe just some tears and a “let me know when you get there”. That’s what the best friends can do – they don’t need to ask to make a casserole or watch your dog. They just get on the phone, cry along with you, and don’t take offense if you just hang up.
6. This is not to say our relationship has not been without it’s rough patches. (Please see #4.) There was at least a semester and a half when I thought our friendship would just be a good college memory, but we made it out relatively unscathed. (We invested a lot in our friendship via sorority dues! We had to make it last.) Some how we ended up writing letters to each other that patched things up, or at least explained our feelings, better than we could have live. I think these papers (because they were still on paper…snuck into suitcases and purses before we parted ways) were the initial babies of my passionate writing crusade. I wrote a lot of mine on planes before take off – the typical time for my biggest panic attacks. Talk about your emotional output. Thank you for bringing this skill out of me, Amber.
7. I have not been a perfect friend to Amber along the way. To write this, I’m going through the file cabinet of memories only to find a few that stick out as not so great. These may or may not include leaving the birthday girl on the dorm room bathroom floor and/or missing out being a friend when her mom died (in my defense, this was the same time as my mom, but still…) But Amber and I have a friendship that with the help of a bit of time apart and an honest apology (you’ve got to really love someone to be able to apologize to their face), we are right back where we started and can laugh at the not-so-great times.
8. Amber is a symbol of my college years. I know how cliche it sounds, but those may have been my best days. There were spring breaks involving muscular armed wake-up calls and super expensive ham. Weeknights spent studying and talking to each other on IM (while sitting at desks close enough we could have reached out and held hands, let alone heard each other actually speak). Baseball games and football games. Black socks sticking out of the closet and my goddamn shoes all over the room. Ricky Martin dance parties and Friday night dinners at the Chinese buffet. And lots and lots of “no, I love you” in the dark hallways of campus as we drunkenly waited for some southern gentlemen to figure out a Yankee was the way to go. (Fact: Yankee turned out to not be the way to go… Their loss.)
9. As a grown-up, Amber has became the person I thought she would. There was no going back on a dream to be a big time CEO to instead be a stay-at-home mom as the husbanded demanded. Or forsaking some pretty crazy memories in the spirit of now being a born again Christian. She stayed true to her path and has come relatively to terms with all the good, bad and “whew, that was interesting” of her past. We should all hope to be that balanced.
10. Speaking of which… Amber’s got a screwed up back story. There, I’ve said it. I’ve said it to her and I’ll say it to you… You would expect a person to come out bass-ackwards from her early years, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders, financial reserve in her pocketbook, and a bunch of really fun stories to tell you about should you get her and a bottle of wine in the same room.
11. I call her Pablo. I know the song it came from, but I don’t remember the situation that started it as a nickname. She goes along with it. Sometimes even signing her name as such. I’m the only person who calls her that. That’s rad.
12. I get all my funny jokes and sayings from her. I think she gets them from her husband. He’s rad, too.
13. Amber taught me about retirement planning. If you run into two old ladies selling lemonade and brownies in a beach hut in the Florida Keys around 2050, stop by and say hi.
So Amber, this one’s for you… No, I love YOU!
And for everyone else, who is the Amber in your life? Why are they so cool? Have you told them that recently? (Cuz you should.)
