Shelly

While I was looking for pictures, I found this one.  It is one of my favorites.  Shelly (my cousin) and I were roommates at BYU in Fugal Hall.  We loved to talk and laugh and do everything together.  The only reason I made it through high school in Sunnyvale and San Jose was Shelly and we decided to go to college together too.  We lived in the same apartment that our Moms lived in many years before us.  I made matching bedspreads and curtains (the same sheets were in the movie "School of Rock" with Jack Black).   We worked together at the jewelry store the summer before to earn money for college.  We moved in and the excitement and fun never ended.  

I remember not being able to say a prayer over the dinner once because our roommate who couldn't cook made oatmeal, mustard and hotdog casserole and I was not thankful for it (you can't pray a lie).  Shelly and I started to laugh so hard we had to leave the table.  We braved the snow together, temperatures in the teens and thought it was warm when the sun came out (we froze). She went to the foreign films with me and all kinds of concerts, sporting events and anything else that looked fun.  I practically made her give me her ticket to the Synthesis Jazz concert because I wanted to take a guy I liked instead of going with her (she forgave me).  We made each other's beds when we were mad at each other.  We went on double dates and talked about guys most of the time.  We made great dinners and invited guys to eat every Sunday.  We liked to read the phonebook to find people we knew.  We went to lots of dances although I could never dance like she could (disco!)  She was patient with me and all my crazy ideas.  

I remember at the end of the year I went up on top of our building on the roof and cried and cried.  I knew she would not be coming back the next year even though she said she would and we had picked out a new apartment.  I have always had an "early warning system" for things that are going to be hard for me.   Sure enough she went home and got married and didn't come back.  I missed her terribly. I can still laugh out loud remembering the things we did.  We have been giggling together for our whole lives.  I wish we lived closer now.