all-encompassingly

about a year ago, i realized it was time to move on from single college life.

all of my friends were moving on. 3 of my 5 original college roommates had gotten married. of the others, doug, had left for south america and matt had given himself to his true love in life, the united nations. my new roommates couldn’t be trusted. i suspected one of using another’s credit card to make a scandalous online purchase. two others skipped out, increasing our rent payments substantially. when i invited another to move in with me, he quickly asked to borrow my car, then wrecked it into our house and refused to pay for the damages. other roommates went to great lengths to avoid making conversation with me or each other. it got so bad that when one of my all-time favorite bands, bad religion, came to town, i had to go to the show alone.

i was at an all-time low.

i decided at some point, struggling through this time of abandonment, that i needed a “guaranteed friend”. i needed someone who couldn’t say, “uh, i have to go to south america”, one who wouldn’t eat an entire meal in the same room as me without saying a word, one whom i could trust completely.

i was officially on the lookout for the one.

there was a list of course. “bad religion fan” was a quality the one had to embody. the other items weren’t quite as specific, perhaps, but just as necessary. i wanted to find someone exactly like me. and i did. (coming from someone as full of himself as i am, that is a tremendous compliment).

one night, i got a phone call from an old friend, starting the turn of events that eventually provided me with this one, guaranteed friend.

i have never met anyone like her. in the words of the bouncing souls, “no one seemed to notice how she was different but i did. and i knew.”