Dear Nina, I sit here wondering where and how I should start recounting some of the stories of our friendship while we were in college for Laney. She clearly wants to hear about it. Her little face lit up when I offered to write something for her about you, about a period of your life she seems to know little about. She needs to hear about you, to grasp more of what has left her, you.
So where do I start Nina? do I tell her how I met you? do I tell her about our road trips around the US, our beach days in Cape May? our beach walks around sunset, our impossible job searches in Cape May? our walks along the quaint and touristy pedestrian mall in Cape May and our periodic breakfast and dinner outings in the many cute outdoor cafes and restaurants of that historic city. Do I tell her how we got there, how much money we had (or had not), how we got lucky getting a place to stay at john's boarding house and how bizzare the place and he himself was?
How about our selection of prospective boyfriends? should I describe them, our thoughts, our disappointments? our hopes? how we found some boys beautiful, but dumb, others gorgeous, but too something or other, how some followed us and some left us leaving us hurt and how we got over it, cried, laughed, talked endlessly about it while sharing . So much youth surrounded us. We were all beautiful, young, happy, full of energy and foolish hope in a brilliant future designed by our dreams. We all thought we could walk on water remember, make the world change remember? and all that, from our little distant beach outpost in Cape May.
Ahh, what foolish days of idealistic, dreams. how about our walks on the beach checking out so many of the boys and bodies along the way. The constant sneaking into beaches that insisted on charging us a price! how rude! to step in their sand. We managed to avoid the fee the whole time! bravo for us! and enjoy just the same fully the beauty of the beach, the surf, the sand. Remember when Michael lost his car keys in the surf and got mad because I laughed at his stupidity. Poor guy, so insecure, such frail ego! and you would get mad that I had no patience with him. Poor NIna, in the middle of these two feuding friends.
I remember so many outings in my wreck of a car, the Fiat. We felt so cool riding in the little car because it looked sophisticated inside, very European! ha! how did it put up with so much abuse, so many miles of traveling back and forth from the beach to Baltimore, to DC to the beach....back and forth...4 hours each way...over and over again...racing it like it was a mazzeratti and passing dangerously close trucks and slow cars along the way in the two lane country roads. We were insane! you and I both Nina. You for sitting placidly in the car and letting me drive like a race driver. Me for thinking that there was nothing more important that passing the cars.
Yes, I was the designated driver in all our drives for most of our friendship. Mostly, because I had the car and because at the time, you were really an awful driver no? Did you get better over time? In SFO? In England? In our drives, you were in charge of packing, tolls, music, snacks, and maps. always an amazing copilot, we had our routines down. All I did was attack the roads fiercely and get us there. You did all the rest.
And what faith we had in that little car. Never even thinking it would leave us stranded or it would break down. It just wasn't even an option in our minds no? how youthfully/wreckless we were. Deliciously positive and outrageously lucky i would say.
When I try to think back and remeber our shared times together so long ago, I remember lots of casual moments were we both were dressed down in worn out jeans, shoeless and casual. You wearing some flowered scarfs on your head tied like a gypsie picking shamelessly flowers from any public or private garden for our rooms, and taking endless photographs of leaves, rocks, bushes, fruits or nature scenes along the way.
There was always the obligatory stop along the road for country fruit stands and snacks. You would have to touch and handle the fresh and voluptuous produce with your little hands. Examine it carefully, feel it, weigh it. As if waiting for it to speak to you before making a choice. There was also a lot of popcorn in every stage of our shared lives. Popcorn and teas. Delicious flavored teas before they became popular like they are today. You had already discovered fancy flavors during your high school days working in a heath food store. And of course, there was the obligatory picnic basket packed by you with delicious hand picked mouth watering snacks, surprising little bundles that created a feast.
You even had perfect glassware for wine in that basket. How did u fit it all??? But of course, what kind of picnic would it have been, had it not had some delicious and beautiful wine to go along. And then, of course you would photograph it all. The perfect scene of lovely setting, new found friends and delicious morsels to share that you had creatively and artfully prepared and set out. A perfect ending or start of a day and another magical moment in our lives.
And how about our days in Goucher, when you decorated the lounge for your dorm. So many questions about tile! ugh! just not my thing...and you so serious and involved, as if the perfect tile might just resolve all the personality conflicts in that dorm. As if the perfect setting might sedate the people into lovely civility and brotherly concern...nothing that a some perfect lighting, good snacks and delicious wine could not solve right?
How bout when the "boys" moved in in the dorm next door? remember that miss Nina? how excited we were to have boys in the property!!! hello!!! we jumped right in and started partying with them, partnering with them while all the other lily white, well behaved, silly girls of our school kept their distance unable to know how to act and react to the prescence of boys! in their space! ha! such fun times with Rich and Spence! how you loved that boy! how dreamy he was, good looking and wise. You were persistent and steady in your pursuit and never gave in. I was amazed. And you got him to pay attention to you and then you got him to really like you and seek you out. You were good girl! and you knew how to keep at it undeterred. Bravo for you for showing how wonderful you were, for getting him to see it for dazzling him with your very real charms, with you lovely soul.
...flowers, food, stuff for our little space in Johns boarding house ...our trips to the shore, to Connecticut, to NY, to downtown DC? Should I mention Spencer? Michael? Tom...Phily...England...and finally, San Francisco?....
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