Legacy Writing 365:102

Y’all know that old saying, “A good friend will come bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun!'”

Kathy L (well, she was Kathy L when I met her; she’s Kathy M now, but she’ll always be Kathy L to me) is that true friend. We met in summer school before our senior year at Alabama. We were taking an American lit class with an unnamed professor who we may or may not later have stalked (if you define “stalk” in a kinder, gentler sense of the word). I was a boring old married lady of some half a year, and Kathy was…not. I love to recall a story told to me by Husband No. 1. He and David K were in the car going somewhere, and they happened to pull up next to Kathy in her car. I was in her passenger seat. David said, “I’m not sure Kathy is a good influence on Becky.” At that moment, the light turned green and Kathy burned rubber taking off. David quietly said, “Let that punctuate my remark.”

I’m not going to provide a list of all the crazy things we’ve done through our decades of friendship. I’m simply going to say that during many of the most heartbroken moments of my life, Kathy was there to provide perspective, make me laugh, let me cry, and say the right thing. She is brilliant with words–in that class I referred to, sometimes when staid old Becky was doing the reading, Kathy was out having fun. On one occasion, she came to class and said, “Aren’t we having a test? Tell me what I’m supposed to have read.” I quickly gave her the Becky Version of Cliff’s Notes, the test began, Kathy wrote like mad, and the next class she got her test back with a big red “A” on it.

If I recall correctly, Kathy was a Mass Communications major. She took a class once in which she had to come up with an ad campaign for an existing product. I don’t know if she picked Sprite or if it was given to her, but I believe I still remember her slogan: “Spriten Up Your Life.” Here’s a newer addition to my Bottle Caps and Friends series of paintings:

Thank you, Kathy, for all the ways you spriten up my life. I’m glad we never ended up in jail.

Y’all can see the other nineteen paintings on my art site, if you’re interested. If you feel like your name is missing, please know that this is an ongoing series. I’ve got lots of paint, lots of canvases, lots of bottle caps, and so, so fortunately, lots of friends.