Kristen Joy

I am really exciting because Wednesday I got to spend time with one of my favorite people in the world, my cousin Kristen. To explain the bond that K and I forged as baby is beyond simply being close family. In the words of Forest Gump, "we was like peas and carrots."

From toddlerhood through what would now be called the tween years, Kristen and I would spend at least two weekends a month together; an incredible feat for kids who lived over an hour apart. When we would have these visits (a big credit goes to my parents and god parents for logging all those miles over and over and over again) the rest of the world would kind of stop and all of nature would bow to fit our needs the way it always seems to in Whinnie the “Pooh cartoons. Weather it was weeklong family vacations, a weekend in Connecticut or a day in New York, our time together seemed like they went on forever and growing up was never a possibility. Everyone should be blessed enough to have a Kristen.

Sadly but inevitably our lives began to make our visits fewer and fewer until that carefree forever lasted only in our hearts and minds. It just becomes impossible to keep that going when there are boys and sick grandparents, and the rest of the drama that comes when we grow too old to live in fairy tales. Every time we'd see each other (maybe a few times a year) there'd be sparkles of fairy dust but the time was always too short. I was lucky enough to find a best friend in high school to share adventures with while I was no longer a part of Kris’, another person who is one of a kind (if few are lucky enough to actually have a Kristen I am double blessed to have a Kristen and a Lauren.) Now the day I used to dream of has arrived, Kristen moved to NYC. Logic says that I still won’t see her as much as I like but probably more often. For the first time in my life I can walk to see her almost anytime I want.

This week has been long; I’ve been tired and drained from my period and no day off. I wanted to cry when the alarm went off this am but when Krissy text that she was free and we should meet up none of that mattered anymore. I showed her the Highline, took her to the apartment I work at and then to my friend's restaurant Stitch. We talked boys, jobs, everything u can imagine. As Forest would say, “we was peas and carrots again" and, though I swore off drinks until after the race in May, I made an exception because that was something worth celebrating.