I was cleaning out my Stagweb account the other day (wow, I just immediately lost any friends who I may have acquired over my past three and a half years at Fairfield) and I came across an e-mail from my roommate and best bud, Beth Casciano ’06.
It dated back to the summer before our sophomore year. It was a list of “new year” resolutions that we were determined to keep. We had decided that as college students, the New Year obviously started in September.
As embarrassing as this is, I am going to share our resolutions with you. And in no particular order:
1.For Beth, do “The Firm” on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. (They were exercise tapes.)
2.For Kelly, be organized, on time and stop losing everything.
3.Have dinner together on Wednesday, go food shopping for fruit and eat breakfast.
4.For Beth, Monday through Thursday, get showered and dressed (What about the weekends? I’m hoping we made a typo!)
5.Make funny signs to hang in our window for “passersby-ers.”
6.For Kelly, no “chicken running.”
7.Beth doesn’t have to make her bed. Kelly does.
8.Do not overheat room, even if we’re really, really cold.
9.Make daily “to do” lists
If you’re questioning some of these resolutions’ meanings, don’t worry. I am too. I can’t remember what “chicken running” is, but I’m pretty glad I kept that resolution and don’t do it anymore. It doesn’t sound fun.
Most of these resolutions we only kept for a short time. I never quite mastered being organized and on time. It still takes me ten to 15 minutes to find my keys and cell phone. I think I’ll always be like that.
Beth may not be as into “The Firm” as she used to, but she kept with it for more than a year. And let me tell you, watching Beth dance around to videotapes of overly peppy instructors is something I miss.
Our best window sign was undoubtedly when the Yankees won the World Series. It read, “Congratulations Yanks! Sorry about your Sox!” with a pair of socks attached. But the window signs were left behind when we left the residence halls.
But there are some resolutions that we kept. We vacuum and clean. We occasionally go food shopping and usually eat breakfast. Beth still doesn’t make her bed, but she definitely showers.
Beth, I’m sorry for embarrassing you. But actually, let’s be serious. When was the last time you were embarrassed about something? Hey Fairfield: every Friday, Beth dances around our house to The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” and “Friday Night” by the Darkness. And I’m talking dances.
Beth, the purpose of this column is not solely to poke fun at you, but also to thank you for something. Over our four years of college, we posted “to do” and resolution lists around our room constantly. It made us feel like we were getting things done. Sometimes, we wrote down things we had already done and then crossed them out, just to make ourselves feel better.
But all the while, through late Tuesday nights to stressful finals, we had one another. Thank you for the wonderful roommate and best friend you have been to me for our four years at college. I surely would have gone crazy without you.
Who else would play the air-guitar as I lip-synced to rock songs into a pink brush as a break during finals? Who else would be equally as interested in determining whether a human body could fit under a university bed that has a trunk under it? (It’s possible – it’s just very hard to get out.)
Who else would sit next to me as I chopped off my long hair for the first time? Who else would deliver me hot chocolate on late Tuesday nights at The Mirror? Who else would talk to me about nonsensical topics as I dosed off to sleep each night? Who else would travel an hour just to bring me to a movie and cheer me up?
Over the past few months, I’ve realized I’m going to miss a lot of things about this place when we graduate. But I’m pretty sure I’ll miss you the most. I can’t imagine not being able to call you and say, “Come home! I miss you.” But I also know that you’ll always be only a phone call away.
No matter where we both end up, you can always call me, and tell me your “to do” list. I think our tenth resolution should be to always remain best friends.
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