There are instances in life when I wonder if this peculiar thing called fate exists. It’s as if in one moment, a millisecond altered the entire course of my life, and here I step back from it all and look at the mess it made. These moments are Anna.
It was like eHarmony but a makeshift "Class of 2019" Facebook page in which you wrote a short but appealing synopsis of who you are in hopes for a roommate that fit your standards. It typically went along the lines of, “Hi, I’m Lara and I like to go to the gym (nope), I’m organized (nope), and I like to (insert generic activities to look cool).” I never really believed in the hype of finding “the perfect roommate” via the Internet because pessimistic ol’ me thought it was an exaggerated myth. If finding your soul mate was as easy as posting a paragraph and patiently waiting for someone to find you somewhat intriguing, I would’ve resorted to Tinder by now. But I guess that’s what being a millennial entails. Fast forward from forced conversations and uninteresting people, I messaged Anna — the only other person who lived on the east coast and was moving to California permanently for family. This was sign number one.
If you ask me what my favorite thing to do in the world is, I’d say sitting passenger seat, windows down, without a single care as to what I feel in that moment other than pure euphoria. Luckily for me, Anna loved driving, windows down and without a single care…ever. Home to me was her worn down 2006 Honda Accord that shouldn’t still be functioning, with the cracked leather seats and the same 10 mixed CD’s, played in different orders so we wouldn’t get sick of them. Driving with Anna meant never having a destination. It was driving down the 405, getting lost and being late for an appointment we never had. With the windows down, my knotted hair and numb fingertips, the wind enslaved me. But I never cared, because I was free to feel anything, and think everything without any judgment. And that is possibly the greatest thing Anna was able to teach me — how to live without the frivolous worries of the unknown. She didn’t stress about having things, waiting for tomorrow or the minor details — she lives life in its purest form, something I always patiently waited for. Her ability to uphold her values and standards while becoming a shape-shifter to life’s obstacles was a foreign idea to me. I was the anxiety-ridden, all-around hot mess while Anna was the other half that told me to chill and that everything will play itself out. I needed this more than ever in my life. This was sign number two.
I was always captivated with the quote from David Gentry, "True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable." To reach the peak of friendship is to abolish all filters and fears, and just be you, however corny that may sound. I never felt restricted by awkwardness with Anna. We either talked endlessly or not at all, and that was okay. There was no obligation to be someone I wasn’t, no matter how gruesome, uncomfortable or peculiar my entangled or lucid thoughts were, I spoke and she listened. When it came to the first time she ever saw me cry, she didn’t say much; simply a hug and a “let's drive to Dunkin” at 2 a.m., my favorite place in the whole wide world. We would order the same ‘Medium iced coffee with caramel and milk’ and stare ahead in silence at the inexplicably cruel world. This was sign number 3.
Though this may sound like a tacky love story, it’s just the story of how I met my roommate. Here's to getting lost and somehow figuring it all out with my other half. It's funny how life works itself out sometimes, and I’m not entirely sure what this makes me believe in, but something out there is looking out for me.
