13 February 2006

Monday Memories


Monday Memories: Did I ever tell you about My College Roommate


My freshman year I was assigned to a suite in the dorm. Several girls who knew each other had signed up together to live in the suite; I was thrown in randomly.

The most striking member of the group was Leigh Ann. She was a Navy brat, which something I had never even heard of before that moment. She was part Hungarian. She had lived in Taiwan (I had travelled overseas, knew people all over the world, but the idea of a US kid living in Taiwan stuck me as incredibly exotic). She was witty and articulate. We had virtually nothing in common.

Yet, within weeks we were finishing each others' sentences.

We ended up rooming together for 4 years. The others went their separate ways, but we stuck together through thick and thin.

One of my fondest memories is from junior year. I had a long, tedious landscaping design project due. It involved hours of drafting, drawing, lettering. Mind-numbing work. Leigh Ann was in a lit class, and had been assigned House of Mirth . She read most of the book aloud to me while I drew. Amazing. At the time I had only an inkling of the fortitude it took to read long, long passages aloud, sitting for hours, reading, reading, reading while the listener seems to be going about their business. Now that I am a mother of 2 voracious listeners I realize how much work it is (and I thank God for audio books from the library). Eventually Leigh Ann announced, "Listen, I've got to finish reading this for class. You'll have to read the rest yourself." But it was impossible to read it to myself; I needed her voice to bring the characters to life. To this day I can remember precisely how she pronounced "Lily". I've never finished reading the book.

Dear Leigh Ann, your birthday was just a few days ago, and I still haven't gotten around to sending a card. But I've been thinking about you and wishing you many happy returns of the day.

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2 comments:

Kimmy said...

A wonderful memory. I can picture it all. Well done.

My 3rd memory is up!

Jen said...

Wow, what a neat memory! Thanks for sharing :-)

Also, thanks for stopping by!