Thursday, August 18, 2005
Toddald
He sat in front of me in Library Information Systems, a freshman requirement. It was my first semester of college and he was so so so so cute. I mean, gorgeous. I mean, he stepped out of a J. Crew catalog and sat in front of me in class. I was still tied to my high school sweetheart, but it never hurts to have pretty friends. I was drawn to him. He seemed shy. I'm not shy. I tried making small talk, but he had none of it. I tried walking out of class with him, but he hurried ahead. This wasn't going well at all. I needed an actual conversation piece, something to work around. About a month into the class, I commented on his Tshirt with an El Camino on the back. I know they are trashy, but I've always liked those. It's a car. It's a pickup truck. It's perfect! This was the beginning of the friendship.
We started watching hockey games together, going out to eat, renting movies, spending A LOT of time together. Somehow, though, I kept him completely separate from my other best friends, Nick and David. In fact, they didn't even believe that he existed! They would badger me for information on him trying to catch me in my wicked lie. I told them his name was Todd McDonald and he was an aviation major. They made fun of me and called him Toddald McDonald. He was my pretend friend, Toddald.
One day I went flying with Todd and didn't come back. I didn't show up to the English class I had with most of the people on my floor that morning. Everyone was mystified when my roommate told them that I never came back that night. I finally showed up around lunch time with a fantastic tale about flying to Columbia with Todd and getting stranded there because of inclimate weather. They still didn't believe me!
Todd and I had a perfect and comfortable friendship. We decided to get an apartment together for sophomore year. It was the perfect situation. He cooked, I cleaned. I even wrote a paper or two for his Composition class and scored well, if I remember correctly. He bought an air hockey table that was used often. Our fingers became so bruised from the air hockey battles that we had to wear gloves. The puck flew off the table and broke things...lots of things. After our sophomore year and our second really fun year as freinds, Toddald moved to Columbia to be with his friends and girlfriend to finish college. I was very sad, but knew that we would remain friends. We have had minimal contact since then and I hadn't seen him since I stopped through Columbia about three years ago for a brief visit.
I still thought about him a lot and wondered what he was doing. People often wondered why we were never a couple. For one thing, the timing was never right. When we met I had a serious boyfriend and by the time we broke up Todd was madly in love with Katy, who just happens to be matched perfectly to him. For another thing, I like my life wrapped up and tied in a pretty ribbon. Todd is spontaneous and in no hurry to settle down. You know that feeling you have after graduating from college when you think, "Now what?" Well, Todd and Katy decided that the only logical answer was to move to Hawaii for a year. So that is where they are.
Todd just came back for a visit and called to say he wanted to see me before he went back. I was excited and nervous. You never know how things will be with someone who you used to be close to and love and feel comfortable with. Life is different now. I needn't have worried. Todd came over with his brother and his brother's girlfriend. I had met Keith, but not his girlfriend. Todd and Kevin had met, but only briefly before Todd moved. Kevin had never met Keith or his girlfriend, Nicola. It was as if we had all been friends for a long time. We all got along swimmingly. There were no awkward hellos or awkward goodbyes. Toddald promised to keep in better touch with email and I know he won't. Still, I'm looking forward to catching up with him in another few years to see how our lives have changed, yet stayed the same.
He sat in front of me in Library Information Systems, a freshman requirement. It was my first semester of college and he was so so so so cute. I mean, gorgeous. I mean, he stepped out of a J. Crew catalog and sat in front of me in class. I was still tied to my high school sweetheart, but it never hurts to have pretty friends. I was drawn to him. He seemed shy. I'm not shy. I tried making small talk, but he had none of it. I tried walking out of class with him, but he hurried ahead. This wasn't going well at all. I needed an actual conversation piece, something to work around. About a month into the class, I commented on his Tshirt with an El Camino on the back. I know they are trashy, but I've always liked those. It's a car. It's a pickup truck. It's perfect! This was the beginning of the friendship.
We started watching hockey games together, going out to eat, renting movies, spending A LOT of time together. Somehow, though, I kept him completely separate from my other best friends, Nick and David. In fact, they didn't even believe that he existed! They would badger me for information on him trying to catch me in my wicked lie. I told them his name was Todd McDonald and he was an aviation major. They made fun of me and called him Toddald McDonald. He was my pretend friend, Toddald.
One day I went flying with Todd and didn't come back. I didn't show up to the English class I had with most of the people on my floor that morning. Everyone was mystified when my roommate told them that I never came back that night. I finally showed up around lunch time with a fantastic tale about flying to Columbia with Todd and getting stranded there because of inclimate weather. They still didn't believe me!
Todd and I had a perfect and comfortable friendship. We decided to get an apartment together for sophomore year. It was the perfect situation. He cooked, I cleaned. I even wrote a paper or two for his Composition class and scored well, if I remember correctly. He bought an air hockey table that was used often. Our fingers became so bruised from the air hockey battles that we had to wear gloves. The puck flew off the table and broke things...lots of things. After our sophomore year and our second really fun year as freinds, Toddald moved to Columbia to be with his friends and girlfriend to finish college. I was very sad, but knew that we would remain friends. We have had minimal contact since then and I hadn't seen him since I stopped through Columbia about three years ago for a brief visit.
I still thought about him a lot and wondered what he was doing. People often wondered why we were never a couple. For one thing, the timing was never right. When we met I had a serious boyfriend and by the time we broke up Todd was madly in love with Katy, who just happens to be matched perfectly to him. For another thing, I like my life wrapped up and tied in a pretty ribbon. Todd is spontaneous and in no hurry to settle down. You know that feeling you have after graduating from college when you think, "Now what?" Well, Todd and Katy decided that the only logical answer was to move to Hawaii for a year. So that is where they are.
Todd just came back for a visit and called to say he wanted to see me before he went back. I was excited and nervous. You never know how things will be with someone who you used to be close to and love and feel comfortable with. Life is different now. I needn't have worried. Todd came over with his brother and his brother's girlfriend. I had met Keith, but not his girlfriend. Todd and Kevin had met, but only briefly before Todd moved. Kevin had never met Keith or his girlfriend, Nicola. It was as if we had all been friends for a long time. We all got along swimmingly. There were no awkward hellos or awkward goodbyes. Toddald promised to keep in better touch with email and I know he won't. Still, I'm looking forward to catching up with him in another few years to see how our lives have changed, yet stayed the same.
