An Homage to Puttin Head

Friends are undoubtedly awesome, right? No need to answer... yes - friends are awesome. Today, my blog is about my awesome, a little left of center friend Shannon.

I'm certainly at a loss as to where to begin with this one, but I guess I'll start from the beginning and tell a brief version of Shannon's favorite story. The day we met (cue dream sequence music).............

Oneonta, NY Aug. 2000. The most exciting and nerve-wracking experience in a person's life is their first day away from home and at college. I fell into step day one when I walked into my room and there was Jackie... my roomie. She needed a lot of work but was quiet (little did I know) and sweet and easy to get along with. I knew there was a girl on my floor that I had met at orientation and I wanted to go find her. Turns out she wasn't there, but her roommate was... SHANNON!! The second Shannon saw me and Jackie she knew she'd be Okaaaaaaay (thumbs up!). From that day on, it was as if we'd all been friends for years. We instantly were comfortable talking about poop - which is ALWAYS a good sign - and knew one another would be there to hold back our hair when we were puking from drinking to much (OK, maybe not me so much with my aversion to vomit).

To me, Shannon was the be all end all of advice (and boy did I need a ton of it with the shitty ass boyfriend I had that year). She sounded like she knew what she was talking about and she used big words - it was all very comforting and accurate... what more did we all need? The years rolled on as few more people were added to our group of friends bringing us to Sophomore year. The most awesome year EVER! This year was actually a big blur to me because I think I was drunk 75% of the time... but pictures proved that we all had a blast. This was the year that we really "dressed up" to go out... we're talking black pants and sequin shirts!

Cut to Junior year. We're off campus and in our own (DISGUSTING) apartment. This is where I think who Shannon is really came into play. She's a slob... there's no denying it. However, she is kind enough to keep the slobbery to her own room. She never spent much time in her room blaming it on the fact that the room itself didn't have a window. Looking back, I'm thinking it was because her room was too messy because if we're being honest, the only two windows in the whole apartment were in my room and Jackie's room.

Either way, this was a very "growing" year for me and Shannon - 2 reasons... 1) We both were in relationships that would be very telling of our future and 2) the roommates were totally split down the middle. What did you expect with 4 girls living together. So it was me and Shannon against them. Being the so non-confrontational people that we were, we kind just laid low and thanked GOD that they didn't spend much time in the apartment. (Shannon.. do you remember when we were texting back and forth when they were talking shit about us right out in the kitchen?!?!? LOL!).

Senior year Shannon and I moved into our own amazing apartment together. We promptly painted the kitchen green (ew) and decided "Americana" was the way to go in the living room. If Shannon and I thought we knew each other before... forget it! Between our pooping and our every so convenient 24 hour stomach bug... it was all out on the table. We were approaching graduation and wondering what was about to happen to us after we left what turned out to be home. After our graduation ceremony, we pranced around Oneonta in our "Unemployed" tank tops we made thinking we were hysterical... but we actually were hysterical and unemployed. So what happened next???

Shannon moved to Long Island, initially for her boyfriend... but we all knew. She moved here to be close to me (LOL!). That was 5 years ago (holy shit!)... tallying up the total time of our relationship (because at this point it's more than a friendship even though I always told her that I could never be in a relationship with her... no way) to 9 glorious years. She's been a roommate, a friend, a maid of honor, my own personal basketcase... you name it.

I say basketcase because, and this is what inspired me to write this, Shannon is flying this weekend. Oh dear Lord, that's never a good thing. She's a nut about quite a few things (croch-up underwear being one of them) but when it comes to flying, I've never seen someone get so panicy (and I hate to fly) - I actually had to text her on my HONEYMOON that I landed safely... so she's not just a nervous flyer about herself but about the people she loves too (which also goes to show what kind of friend she is). She asks for some flying prayers (she even had her dad light a candle at church this past weekend)... so fork 'em over as she heads to Michigan to attend a bachelorette party weekend for another friend.

So to my friend Shannon - you're awesome... may you travel safely this weekend (and please take notes on what everyone was wearing!).