I met Linda  when we were in the seventh grade.  Was it in P.E.?   Gosh, another fact slipped into the ether.

There are so many wonderful memories associated with her that I hardly know where to begin.  The most interesting fact would be  a good start: Linda is the best belcher I have ever known.  Loud, rolling, controlled, and capable of forming complete sentences.  Whenever I belch, it is an embarrassing and awkward accident.

It was with Linda that I took my first trip with someone else’s family.  We visited their cabin in Como, Colorado.  It was a lovely, rustic place.  We roamed the fields, played Yahtzee like there was no tomorrow, and giggled like the schoolgirls we were.

It was at Linda’s that I watched my first movie on a VCR (Rock and Roll High School), learned to shave my legs, and how to properly use a shower curtain.  *Keep that plastic in the tub or you’ll end up with a whole mess o’ water on the floor.* She also helped me score the best paying and yummiest job of my teen years – a busser at Amici’s Italian Restaurant.  Boy do I miss the sausage sandwich special!

As she lives in Denver, and I in Portland, we don’t see much of each other these days, but she is often on my mind.  She’s the type of person who is always smiling (and isn’t a lovely one, too?), is kind, thoughtful, and never has an ill word against anyone.  Everyone should have a little Linda in their life.  I’m glad I do.