I’m a very lucky woman. Anne, my sister from another mister, not only kept me company but also kept me sane on my move.
A small but significant portion of my worldly goods still lived in a Springfield, Illinois storage unit. She met the movers there and supervised them loading my things into their panel van, then rode to St. Louis with them. She brought snacks and kept me company while total strangers packed all my worldly goods into a 24 foot panel van. When the painfully slow movers finally went back to Springfield, she hopped in the truck for a road trip to Austin.
Along the way, she kept me company day and night, always a voice of optimism. Who cares if normal people don’t move across country to cities they’ve never even visited, she’d say. You’re Chris-Rachael. You’ve moved to countries you’d never visited. We drove all day then watched house porn shows at night, comparing them all to the apartments I’d seen in Austin.
When I discovered my complex pulled a bait and switch on my apartment, she was there to keep me calm. Sure, she said, the kitchen sink may only be 8 inches deep and the miniature toilet may look like it was designed for potty training a two year old, but look at these huge windows. It’s a good, sunny space to replace that dark, depressing hole of an apartment in St. Louis. Plus, for $450 and 60 days notice you can move out whenever you want, so it’s as good a starter home as anything else.
Later that day, when the car dolly snapped, leaving me in serious physical danger on the bridge and terrified of financial disaster if I had to buy the dolly, she was there when I cried and still there when I calmed down. When the same movers who sloppily attached my dolly somehow also made off with all my bedding, she took me to Target and got me an entirely new set of sheets, blanket and comforter so I’d have something new to sleep on in a new city. Every morning, I love waking up in my new green bed.
She was cheerful on the calm drive and easily rolled with my moving day panic. Between the bait and switch, dolly disaster, and insurance shocker, I would’ve spent my first day in Austin a useless mess. With her calming presence I was able to get my shit together and deal with the realities at hand.
When it was time to put her on a train back to Illinois, I didn’t want to give her back.
I’ve spent holidays with Anne. I’ve gone on road trips with her. She’s the only person I regularly talk to on the phone, and every time I do it feels like we saw one another yesterday. Plus, she got me into Doctor Who. I am a damn lucky woman.
Hopefully, you’re nodding along, thinking of the friend who, by their actions, makes you happy to be a member of the human race. Go tell them how awesome they are. They deserve it.
I love you too.