Kitty Mama

There are many wonderful people I meet in my life. However, today, I suddenly really miss my best friend Courtney. Or perhaps, "Kitty Mama" was our inside joke. She is truly unique, and quite a funny individual even if she is unintentionally funny at times. It's been about two years now since I've seen her in person. and almost half a year since I lost contact with her. I always wonder if she is doing fine, and if she has rides to places she needs to go, or if she is wearing the proper shoes to accommodate this winter's harsh weather.

Let me introduce her properly: This is Kitty Mama

She likes to wear sweaters and headbands. Her favorite chips are Grippos, and her go to snack is Debbie Cakes. No, She is not a hipster for refusing to follow society, she is Courtney.

I first met Courtney through a program called Mosaic located downtown. I remember her telling me that her first impression of me was that I was scary because I never smiled very much.

After a few days of Mosaic, we realized that we both had to take COTA buses home while other kids got to drive cars or get picked up by people they know. And so we walked to the bus stop every day after class. Slowly, I realized we had become best friends. She was the first person I knew that was like her. She didn't care what other people thought about her. She didn't care how people judged her clothing as long as she liked them. And she had nearly no sensor to the things she wanted to say. For the first time in my life, I was comfortable with being myself, and I stopped being such a coward walking on the path that everyone else took.

With Courtney, I had the most memorable memories. When we had some money, we shared it. When we didn't have money, we shared that struggle as well. During the winter, we would gather up all the change we had to buy Debbie cakes for 50 cents and share it. When we happened to have more money, we would buy even more Debbie cakes and rejoice at the luxury we were living in. On days we felt like salt, we would buy a huge bag of Grippo's BBQ Chips and sit outside of a closed clothing shop on High Street. Sometimes the sun was too hot, sometimes the wind hurt on our skins, sometimes the rain drenched us, ans sometimes the snow mislead our vision. But, we still had fun walking together and saying funny things. I would always look at my reflection every time I passed by the windows of a building. She would say, "Nina! Stop looking at yourself! It will make you sad!." On super cold days, we stood under a vent of a coffee shoppe even though the air coming out of it smelled like burning charcoal. On hot days, we would always want a smoothie, but they were expensive. When we did have enough money to buy smoothies, the weather would be too cold. I remember we took Art Classes together, volunteered together, got lost together, and shared stupid jokes only we would laugh at.

Even though neither of us had money, a car, or connections, we still lived wonderfully. Sometimes when we sat in our corner of the street, there would be groups of people walking by wearing extravagant clothing and carrying expensive bags. I told Courtney, "Sometimes I wish I were like them. Being able to eat what ever I wanted, being able to buy clothes that look nice, and not having to wait in the cold for a bus that might be an hour late." She told me that she wouldn't want to be like them. She was happy with who she was and that she didn't think she would be the same person is she did grow up like them. This is Courtney, the girl who took the path less taken.

I miss my dear friend greatly. And I hope that she is doing fine.
So, if you happen to read this one day. You were a great part of my life, and next time we meet I will have enough money to treat you out to frozen yogurt. The weather that day will be great!