So my girl, Shiksa. Where to begin?! We are kindred spirits. We met through her now husband, Dr. Bop (I'm on a roll!) and my ex, Mr. Microphone (somebody stop me!). Bop and Mic have been friends since childhood, and when introduced, I felt like I had known Shiksa about that long too. We were instant besties (a word I learned from her). The beginning of our friendship was mostly long distance - me in Atlanta with her in Chicago THEN me in Chicago with her in New Jersey. But really it wasn't until she moved back to Chicago, (at last, putting us in the same city) that our friendship grew some roots...and just in the nick of time.
Chicago was an AMAZING life experience for me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I learned more about myself in those 3 years than I ever had before. But as we all know, life lessons can bring some seemingly insurmountable challenges and heartache. THANK GOD FOR SHIKSA! She was my lifeline in so many ways - particularly in a time when the newness of my new city had worn off; I was severely homesick; Mr. Microphone had left town for an internship; and I was in a job that I hated. The perfect storm.
ENTER Shiksa with a big ass umbrella.
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She was there for me in every possible way, and to make it all that much sweeter, we had an unbelievable number of things in common from politics to particular obsessive tendencies. Many a hardy chuckle have been had over unintentional "coincidences" that have made us wonder if we had that twin-like psychic connection between us. More than once, we have both arrived at our designated meeting point at the exact same time without breaking our stride. That even happened when I last visited in December. One of our favorite things to do was to get take-out ribs (zesty) from Twin Anchors and go to my place to watch Grey's Anatomy.
Shiksa was always at her best, though, when I was at my absolute worst. Eventually my relationship with Mr. Microphone came to it's inevitable end, and even with the obvious loyalty conflicts, she never left my side. Mr. Microphone is a compassionate guy, and he knew how close Shiksa and I were (are). After our break-up he told her to take care of me. Now, that's kind of a normal thing to do with mutual friends in such a situation, but I've never met anyone who took that assignment more seriously than she did. In fact, I think Mr. Microphone eventually came to regret making that request of her, as she became my consummate protector even if it meant putting him in his place. There were days when I wasn't sure I could even get out of bed. No worries. Shiksa was there with a Dr. Pepper and a frosted cookie to save my day. Through anxiety attacks, car accidents, break-ups, and muggings via knife-point, she (and many times Dr. Bop too) came to my rescue.
Now we are back to where we started - me in Atlanta and her in Chicago. When my last days in Chicago were winding down, that was the good-bye that I was most dreading. It didn't matter that I'd see her again in two months at her wedding, or that I knew we would keep in touch. Shiksa had become one of those fixtures in my life such that, saying good-bye to her was like leaving a piece of me behind. Actually I'm ok with that though, because I know that piece couldn't possibly be in better hands.
I love you so much, Shiksa, and I miss you everyday. I hope I have been, and can be, half as good a friend to you as you have been to me.
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