Pisces in the Hizzouse!

Written and Posted from Kerala, India

We know a lot of people with birthdays who are of this particular aquatic zodiac sign. Seriously. Out of our 5 friends, about 4 of them have birthdays coming up. Since I know that the birthday posts are probably only interesting for the people who are having the birthday, or the people who know the person having the birthday, I'm going to spread them out over the course of the lunar month. And to start things off, I'd like to say a transatlantic happy birthday to Becca. Happy Birthday, Becs!

Becca and I met, oh, 15 years ago. Which isn't true. See, we met 16 years ago when we were both freshman at Central High School (255!) but we didn't become friends until we we re-met sophomore year. In advisory. Which the rest of the world knows as "homeroom." That was way back when my last name started with an "M" and Becca's started with an "N." Which none of you care about, so I'll move on. And also, that might be a lie because I can't really remember whether we had advisory together sophomore year or not until junior year, in which case we re-met sophomore year in a class we had together. ANYWAY. When Becca and I re-met our sophomore year, it was as though we were friends instantaneously. Like we were the friend that the other was waiting around to meet, the real purpose of going to high school in the first place.

When I look back on that time in my life, specifically sophomore year of high school, I think that Becca was the one bright spot of the whole mess of that year. And the biggest bright spot of all of high school, actually. She was the friend who was there for me, day in and day out, when I most needed someone to be there for me day in and day out. You cannot thank a person for that kind of love, dedication, and loyalty. There are no words.

I can still conjure the feel of Becca's kitchen table under my fingers, as we sat at it, hour after hour, lighting candle after candle and talking, picking off the pools of molten wax with our fingernails. I can still remember when she got her new stereo, and how she introduced me to REM and the Indigo Girls in the same year. I know exactly how her face lit up when I gave her a tent and how we set it up in her bedroom and she hugged and kissed it. I still can't walk into a Roy Rogers without thinking of the one not far from her house, where we'd go and order water and steal pickles from the fixin's bar. Same with IHOP. Except without the fixin's bar and with the coffee and those wee little creamers instead. I could keep going and going with this list, but then you'd all know, for real this time, what a huge DORK I was in high school, so I'll stop. Suffice it to say that most of my best memories from my teenage years were spent in Becca's company, and I'm so excited that we'll finally be living in the same city again, because even though she's just about the most brilliant doctor I know, and even though that means she's working 110% of the time, I feel really grateful for the chance to make more best memories with her in her 29th year. So Becs, I hope you have a happy, happy birthday and we'll see you in a few months!