Nicolle

Nicolle’s Mother Judy and my Mother Sandra were best friends before we were born, therefore Nicolle and I were friends before we were born, but my first memory of Nicolle was when she made fun of me for wearing a diaper since she was already potty trained.  I got back at her a few years later when I pretended I knew how to read and changed all of the stories I read to her making them about little brown haired girls getting killed by monsters!

As the years went by we spent so much time together we were like sisters. And we fought like sisters. I yelled at her for cutting her Barbie’s hair and I confiscated her Holly Hobby dolls because she was an unfit parent.  She never stopped asking me for the next 40 years to give me back those dolls but I still have them.

One year for Christmas I wanted to take my new doll house to Nicolle’s house so we could play with it together.  So my father put it in our trunk and tied rope to hold it but it didn’t seem sturdy.  We had to drive down a narrow road on the canyon from my Grandmother’s house. My father was such a psycho driver, Nicolle and I stared at that trunk to make sure that doll house didn’t fall. We both became terrified of canyons after that night but we had fun playing with that doll house for the next two weeks, so it was worth it.

Nicolle had a firmer grasp on reality than I did so she preferred saving animals rather than playing with dolls.  When we were adults she helped her cat give birth.  She had to nurse the kittens herself and she loved it.  I called her Dr. Doolittle.  I always made fun of her for her love of animals. I told her “what the hell are you doing with all those birds!”  She was more accepting of me than I was of her.

Nicolle taught me how to make macaroni and cheese and let everyone know it. In fact it was the only thing I knew how to make for years and it is now my signature dish!!

Nicolle and I went through everything together, including the time our Mothers drove the car through the dining room. They stopped by the bar on the way to the grocery store and mistook the gas pedal for the brake pedal.  But Nicolle handled everything with grace.  She just shook her head and went into the kitchen to make macaroni and cheese since she assumed they had forgotten the groceries.

Nicolle knew how to get what she wanted. She wanted gum one day but we had no money. She didn’t believe in stealing so she talked some boy we met at the liquor store into buying her some.  Years later when we were 17 she talked the gas station attendant into selling her red wine with her dad’s gas card.  She was resourceful. 

Nicolle understood people and she knew how to be a friend, better than anyone I’ve ever known. Everywhere she went she knew someone. She even knew people in the valley and that was rare for a girl from Beverly Hills.  I was so painfully shy when we were kids so the only way I could make friends is if Nicolle introduced them to me. It seemed like the only time I could be myself was around Nicolle.

She was there with me when my daughter was born. She gave Leila her first bath. She was with me when I forgot her bottle nipples were boiling on the stove.  We forgot they were on the stove until the neighbors were knocking on my door asking what the burning rubber smell was. 

She wrote a note to me in our 1985 yearbook, “no matter what just remember everything that we’ve gone through. I always remember you and the Holly Hobby dolls, the Barbie Dolls, doll houses…etc.  I love you a lot, you’re my best friend and my sister. We’re life long friends and we’re always going to be here for each other! No one will ever come between us and we will definitely find our guys! (Peper and Mario)!!!

Nicolle was there with me for my recent surgery even if it was over the phone.  She gave me my sanity back when I was sure I had lost it for good.  Nicolle never took anyone for granted. I know I took her for granted many times.  I never thought I would be writing these words. I never thought there would be a day I would have to live without her…somewhere…on the other end of the phone line…on Facebook…somewhere….

A friend of mine sent me the following quote by an unknown author,

“If you were once connected with someone, does it make sense that the connection is broken just because of a physical death? No, the connection stays. You may just have to listen differently. You may just have to talk differently. The truth is: the connection is never broken. As long as you exist, the connection stays." - Unknown

I will never let anything come between us Nicolle...we will always be connected.

Love Laura