{"id":1187,"date":"2011-02-17T17:04:38","date_gmt":"2011-02-18T01:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.com\/?p=1187"},"modified":"2011-02-17T17:04:38","modified_gmt":"2011-02-18T01:04:38","slug":"bff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/bff\/","title":{"rendered":"BFF"},"content":{"rendered":"

I still remember getting the phone call with her name. I was on a break at my job at Blockbuster, my mom had opened the letter from my new college – and it contained the name of my new roommate and dorm room. I was going to be spending my freshman year on the 11th floor of an 11 story building with a stranger named Rebecca.<\/p>\n

We exchanged emails throughout the months leading up to the start of our collegiate career. (It was last century, but we still had the archaic email technology.) Each and every day of the summer, someone reminded me, \u201cRemember – you don\u2019t need to be best friends with this individual. You just need to tolerate her for one single school year.<\/p>\n

On move-in day we discovered each other in the hallway. \u201cAre you Rebecca,\u201d I stared. \u201cYes. Are you Patricia,\u201d she questioned in return? We set about arranging our room, my father puttering about building a bunk bed and moving bookshelves. \u201cYour new roommate is very quiet,\u201d he observed later in the day. \u201cNo, Gustavo,\u201d corrected my mother. \u201cShe just can\u2019t understand a word you say.\u201d (GrampaStavo has a rather thick Italian accent).<\/p>\n

And then I stood in front of the building, watching my parents drive away. I lived alone for the first time in my life; the only person I knew was someone I\u2019d exchanged a few emails with. She seemed nice enough. But remember – I didn\u2019t need to be great friends with her, I just needed to tolerate her for one year.<\/p>\n

Back upstairs we awkwardly stared at each other a bit more. Finally Rebecca broke the ice and asked if I was interested in accompanying her to the dining hall for our first dinner as college kids. By the end of the meal, we were chatting like old friends. (Advice – emailing your future roommate gives you a great background to go off of when you get where you\u2019re going.) By the end of the year, we were thick as thieves. She\u2019d pile my laundry in the closet to avoid the \u201ctrails\u201d I made for myself; I\u2019d make her eat a bag of pretzels before any argument commenced in case it was just low blood sugar making her cranky.<\/p>\n

We were both 17, the youngest kids on the floor. Neither of us were theatre majors (yet, I\u2019d become one later), but we\u2019d indicated that particular pastime as an interest on our personality form. (I think colleges match roommates by hobby and height.) Becca\u2019s mom had warned her that theatre people were weird, but I\u2019m glad she marked the checkbox anyway. We pulled one all-nighter together – the two of us calling our educator moms at 6 a.m. to say good morning in a fit of giggles before we finally passed out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Birthdays were always a big deal in our room. When I got flowers on my birthday, Becca proudly marched them down the hall proclaiming, \u201cWe got roses!!!\u201d Sophomore year, when her birthday morning arrived, I think I may have rolled over and mumbled \u201chappybirthday\u201d before collapsing into sleep\u2019s warm embrace. Becca was definitely a little hurt – she\u2019d even gone to the trouble of circling the date on all of our calendars. But the moment she headed out the door for work, our little gaggle of girlfriends leapt into action. We decorated the room with flowers and cards (but made sure not to include any balloons) and placed a giant bow on her aerodynamic new desk chair. You didn\u2019t think we\u2019d really forget her birthday, do you?<\/p>\n

Senior year we proudly stood in front of the Communications department and argued our joint thesis project together. We were both 21 and getting ready to move on to the next stage of our lives – the one where we played grownup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 2006, she got married and I was there. In 2007, on her one-year anniversary, I got married and she was there. In 2009, she had a little girl. I couldn\u2019t wait to meet the newest member of our family. When I announced I was pregnant in 2010, she immediately demanded to see the ultrasound photos of her nephews.<\/p>\n

During my hospital lockdown, we once again began exchanging emails as she sent me amusing anecdotes to keep my sprits up. And this Thanksgiving our families celebrated together, thankful for so much – especially friends who are family.<\/p>\n

Today, Auntie Beeeca (nickname derived from GrampaStavo\u2019s inability to correctly pronounce or spell her name) is 30. For someone I just had to tolerate for nine months, I\u2019m awfully glad it was her. I\u2019m truly lucky to have a friend like her.<\/p>\n

Happy Dirty 30, Auntie Beeeca! Party like a rockstar. And here\u2019s to our masquerade as grownups.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I still remember getting the phone call with her name. I was on a break at my job at Blockbuster, my mom had opened the letter from my new college – and it contained the name of my new roommate … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3Sbzi-bff","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":432,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/roommates\/","url_meta":{"origin":1187,"position":0},"title":"Roommates","date":"July 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Search and Destroy moved out of their individual little plastic boxes and together into a pedi-crib bachelor pad today. When we walked into the NICU this morning, the two 3.5 pound brothers were squirming around in their new digs. Even though the move doesn\u2019t indicate any major change, it makes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destroy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/07\/brothers_roommates-cadenandlogan_7-8-10.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2503,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/haircuts-and-heartbreak\/","url_meta":{"origin":1187,"position":1},"title":"Haircuts and Heartbreak","date":"May 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Big week for the graduating class of 2012. It\u2019s finals week in the toddler room. Will they eat all the food provided from the school kitchen? Can they successfully drink out of big boy cups? How will the transition to the new class go? Will they remember to come home\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destroy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Caden_PoliceCar-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2395,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/a-rough-and-tumble-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1187,"position":2},"title":"A Rough and Tumble Day","date":"April 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The morning brought about a neighborhood walk. We wrestled with the dogs before nap and then filled their little tummies with lunch. An excursion to the park was to follow in the afternoon. The end-goal: Exhaust the little ones. Spring is here. And it was a beautiful day. 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Christmas was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Celebrations"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/streamdoubletrouble.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/12\/file0081.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4232,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/naptime-nowadays\/","url_meta":{"origin":1187,"position":4},"title":"Naptime Nowadays","date":"February 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We still put the boys down to \u201crest.\u201d Science may say that naps are no longer healthy after the age of 2, but I would like to invite Science to come deal with muppets after a long day and no nap. (Also, I am 34 and still greatly enjoy naps.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destroy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Brothers_Bunkbed_12-23-14-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1244,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/natural-disaster\/","url_meta":{"origin":1187,"position":5},"title":"Natural Disaster","date":"March 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, Japan experienced a tremor like nothing their country had ever seen before. Thousands are homeless, hundreds are missing. The official number of wounded only accounts for physical ailments, not the mental anguish of people who have lost friends, family or a feeling of security. Japan is one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}