We'll always have Lino

This week's Friendship Friday post is about D.R.

I met D.R. towards the end of my senior year of high school. She was at L.A.'s sweet 16 party and she seemed nice and outgoing. A few months later, she accompanied L.A., another mutual friend and myself to see "Rocky Horror." After that, we lost contact for a while.

When I was a junior in college, she started her freshman year at ISU. L.A. put us back in contact and we started hanging out more often. We became really close that year. We'd go to the Coffeehouse, Theater of Ted and hang out in each others' dorms. We always found stuff to laugh about. There was Dan, my R.A. (that's what he called himself on a voice message), the brain stem chiropractor, the girl who pooped in a bucket, my attempts to speak German, Spoooooon, Norm McDonald guy, lots of stuff we picked up from "Saturday Night Live" ("I boosted it!") and, of course, Lino. Lino was this attractive guy who lived on my floor in Watterson Towers. He would join us for meals sometimes and would make random comments ("Orange chicken, good choice."). His name was actually Nino, but we liked to call him Lino and it just stuck. We'd laugh hysterically whenever we saw him and we'd come up with ideas for shirts, such as "Lino's Girl." Once I even wrote "Call Me" on his door and then we sprinted to the stairwell before he could catch us. He had a younger brother who looked similar to him and we called him "Lino's brother." He had a name, but we liked our nickname better.

D.R. and I would sit next to each other in the computer lab and chat with each other in the same group. It was more fun that way. I make fun of people who e-mail each other in the same dorm room or house, but I'm guilty of that even now! We even met a few of the chat room people in person. D.R. also became part of a group of friends that had been established since second semester freshman year and kept expanding to include more people similar to us. We hung out during our breaks too. We had our happy and sad moments together that year too. Her roommate was awful, so I let her crash in my room a lot. D.R. really made junior year special for me and I always have fond memories of that time.

After that year, D.R. spent a semester in Austria and then moved to New Mexico. We continued to stay in touch by e-mail and get together when we were in the Chicago area at the same time. I was always excited to see her whenever we got together. I even got her involved with "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind." We'd see it together occasionally.

I even got to know D.R.'s family over time. I felt bad that I couldn't be there for her in person when her father passed away (due to lack of child care at the time). He was a very sweet man and she got a lot of her good-natured personality from him. Her mom is also very kind and I think about her kitty cat pancakes even though I've never had them.

D.R. is very down-to-earth and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She would never be superficial and she always treats her friends well. Last I heard, things were going well in her life and she even got a dog. I'm glad that she is happy and I hope her happiness continues over time. We haven't been in touch in a while and I haven't seen her in over 2 years. We catch up on Facebook from time to time, but I'd love to hear more about what she's been up to lately. No matter what, I know we'll always be friends and we'll always have Lino (or his brother).