A Unforgettable Accomplice . . .

I remember parts of my college days as if they were yesterday, the parts I cared about anyway. I met her the first day of my electronics engineering classes as we were split up in groups of two to accommodate the layout of the desks and equipment. No one knew anyone else so it was a matter of milling around and taking a chance which resulted in her standing in front of me smiling and we awkwardly picked a desk. I could never have been so lucky, I have a natural aptitude towards circuit design and theory and she was by far the best I have ever worked with at all forms of advanced math. We were both competitive at our work to say the least and drove each other for the better. Most of the time it worked out for the positive but one day we brought the class to a halt with an all out yelling match, everyone stood in silence as we postured and yelled, both leaving the room afterwords. I remember 4 classes we aced, 4.0 in classes touted by the college to be the toughest and if that wasn't good enough, we tutored other students for extra credit that couldn't even apply. The professor set us up at a workstation in the front of the room and occasionally called the class up to observe at times. It was amazing, we needed each other and we knew it! She lived a long drive away but we spent a few evenings walking together and I remember watching Peanuts cartoons while laying on a sleeping bag. We were together much of the day but we never so much as kissed, we had focus in everything. At one point my father talked with me and said these exact words, "Be careful how you treat her, she adores you". I explained that it wasn't like that being the age at which I knew everything, or thought. College was over and we moved in different circles, slowly loosing track of one another. Last I heard she was a whiz at Auto Cad, was married, had two wiener dogs, and they traveled a lot.

I've never met anyone like her and truly miss her often. Recently, I've crossed paths with another such lady who is very intelligent and seems to have many of the same qualities, it just brought this group to mind.