Two years ago, she gave me a sketchbook. "For all those big ideas you have," she said. Inside, she wrote: "never be afraid of a little rain."
Marissa and I met way back in 2007 at a little coffee shop in St. Paul when we were just kids in college. We worked the night shift, always. I met her and literally two days later, invited her to my 22nd birthday party. She was the cool kid on the block that you secretly hoped would think you were cool too. That was four years ago and we've been best friends ever since. And I thank God every day she still thinks I'm cool.
Sometimes I think about that little job and how by the end of it, we had it down to a science. Close up in five minutes flat? Of course. We'd grab a drink or even more coffee after. Study together and be so deliriously exhausted, you start making faces with latte foam. We were literally just kids. We had the world in front of us and were about to take it by storm. Together.
Always a willing model for my photo coursework, Mo Money became a celebrity around the MCTC Photography department. So much so that my teacher actually told me to stop photographing her. "She's gorgeous and hilarious but you've gotta branch out!" So I photographed her custom Nikes instead. And her cat. And her roommates. And her house. That's the thing about Marissa; she emulates this spirit that just makes you want to constantly be around her. Maybe it's her wit and charm and how she can break out into a perfect Beyonce dance impression at the drop of a single beat. Her confidence exudes out of that side braid like nobody's business. And those eyes? Are you kidding me?!
But then time and life happens and sometimes, you don't see each other for a week. Or two. Or ten. You make plans and have to cancel. But you know that when you pick up the phone and dial speed dial #3, she'll be there to pick up at the other end. And you apologize for being a jerk and winning the worst friend ever award and she says, "ain't no thing. we coo, girl."
We've adventured both Twin Cities, worked at the coffee shop and the gift shop, moved her from apartment to apartment, ice skated on NYE together (okay that was just once...), volunteered together, sang in the church choir together, shopped together, nannied together, worked out together, trained together and drank probably a bajillion cups of coffee together. Marissa's my girl. And I couldn't be more proud of her and how she's making things happen.
She's finally making her debut on this little blog in a post that should be called "Marissa & Syd Adventure Day: Do Not Bail" or "The Time We Played in the Rain and She Turned the Camera on Me." It's only fair, right? I mean, she has endless options for Facebook profile pics from here to the end of eternity.
xoxo,
syd.
sydnee@sydneebickett.com
