Lisa, Circa 1998
Lisa was, without any of us realizing it at the time, the center of our social universe. This despite that fact that she wasn’t necessarily part of our social universe in the same way that the rest of us were. She didn’t always come to the clubs with us, and she always had a life apart from us in the way that the rest of us didn’t. But without Lisa, and my crush on her, I’m not sure I would’ve met or befriended Sam or Gabi, and that might have meant that Andy and Sam wouldn’t have met, or Hannah and Gabi, and suddenly it’s all chain reactions and everything in that period of my life is different.
Looking back, Lisa dealt with my crush – a ridiculous, embarrassing crush that made me tongue-tied and assured to say or do the wrong thing at almost any given time she was around – ridiculously well, a mixture of humoring me and finding it humorous but also dealing with it (and me) with such kindness and grace that I was let down without the heartbreak that the me I was then was eager to jump into and wrap around me. Not that I was really aware of that, at the time; I don’t think I really realized the many ways in which she was a wonderful person until years after we’d lost touch, which seems both fitting and sad at the same time. She was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known, and wherever she is now, I hope that’s still true.
Related posts: