A RED VELVET VIXEN cupcake for one fine young lady!
I STILL know exactly when certain friendships in my life were formed.
About three years ago, one of the most prominent personalities here at work dragged me to the salon to get made over for the site-wide hosting job we had that evening. I was already okay with the haircut I had the day before and the wax I streamed on with my fingers the morning of. But no, if I were to stand next to her on stage, I better looked human at least.
I’m inclined to believe that I have a strong personality, so very very few people have managed to intimidate me. That, and the fact that it takes so long for me to warm up to people I’ve just met. But that first meet-up with her, the drive from the office to the salon peppered with animated conversations about people half of whom I didn’t know then (hahaha!), and just the effervescence in her voice squashed my pretend-fence and disarmed all my defenses against making new friends.
She took one look at what the stylist made of my unruly hair, smiled and said it looked better, reached out for her bottle of Kérastase anti-drying, nutri-protective leave-in spray, motioned to the stylist and said: “Honey, please put this on his hair.” I remember smiling at my reflection on the mirror because I knew right there and then that I had found someone I could keep for life.
I associate her with Sophie Kinsella’s shopahic book series. I can still hear her talking about shopaholic and baby as if it was just yesterday. I remember her finally getting a Burberry shoulder bag – but not in the oft-counterfeited Burberry classic black, tan, and red trademarked check pattern. She got it in the exploded, bigger pattern in pronounced tones of blue and white. Clearly, while she did finally succumb to the lure of the designer bag, she did so by getting something that would still set her apart from the rest.
She knows how to put a difficulty or unfortunate event out of countenance, accentuate the positive, and turn it around. So that it didn’t surprise me that when one person she was meeting up ran so late, she quietly rose from her chair at Starbucks, crossed the street to Louis Vuitton, and purchased a Monogram Mini Lin Speedy 30. But the best part? She has a good head on her shoulders enough to know that to live the good life is not to do it Rebecca Bloomwood’s way. She’s quite responsible that way. She knows the good life and has impeccable manners to boot. She could’ve very well not shown up to the latecomer anymore, but she still did – her new arm candy in tow.
While she may have surrounded herself with the finer things, she has never lost sight of what she values the most in her life – the relationships she has with people around her. I may have had an idea of what loving unconditionally or giving one’s self for others means. But I have never seen it come to life – almost palpable – than with her and how she lives her life. She’s the quintessential Daddy’s Girl that even when she had experienced the pain of loss, she has kept her “daughter’s love” alive and persevering. And she has shown that a Daddy’s Girl loves her mother and can take care of her just as much. Her brother’s children can never be far behind – she dotes on them and attends to their needs.
It surprises me sometimes how someone like her can still manage to love and care for even more people. She has sure done it for me. She has done so in so many ways that I feel I will never be able to thank her enough.
Today, April 16th is her birthday. Happy birthday, Partner! Amishoo so much!
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