thinking of my college roomie, on her wedding day

Today my former first roommate in college Dawn, married. I'm tickled for her.

This got me to thinking about Dawn, and found me thinking of the good times.
My first year of school was tumultuous to put it mildly. Dawn and I had our good and bad times, I'm just glad we got through them. I've been talking to a mutual friend of ours, Andy, recently and we've been going over our mutual memories of Dawn too.
The first time I met my college roomie wasn't until the end of my first day there. When my parents had dropped me off at my dorm room, up 3 floors with a tv nonetheless, I had found the room filled with Dawn's things. So, I claimed a bed and said tearful goodbyes to my parents and sister. After they'd left I set in to snooping and arranging my own things. What I discovered was that, for the most part, they'd found me a great roomie who had loads of things in common with me. Dawn loved the sci-fi books, The Cure, and all things punk. After unloading my things and respectfully snooping I went outside the room, after leaving a post it for my roomie saying hi! and Welcome or something like that, I honestly just don't remember anymore. I know I left a friendly post-it. I went out and mucked about the dorm and made friends with my amazing and wonderful across-the-hall neighbor Shannon, who I would quickly learn to love as a friend. Shannon and I would end up being really good friends for the first semester and then she sorta dropped out of everything, having ended up pregnant the first semester. She dropped out after that year and I never heard from her again. College was like that, fast good friends that suddenly leave school and head home. I had more that a few people do that during my college years. It's a very transitional time for people.
Anyhow, Shannon and I that first day hung out for several hours, we toodled around the dorm and got lost a little and took the bus through campus. She was a petite but fiesty punk girl. After a few hours we headed back to our rooms, the evening was coming and it would soon be party time. Everyone was on their own for the first time ever so, a party was inevitable. I had not been a party person in high school. I would, when given the chance go to The Fine Line in Tucson with my cousins, but I never drank or went to parties in high school. I was rather focused on getting out of my small town. I was pretty excited at the prospect of finally meeting my roommate and also getting to go to a party. Shannon had to get back because she was having people, including me over. I found in my dorm room a post-it in return from Dawn. I believe she'd said something about how much we had in common and how she couldn't wait to finally meet me. I changed and got ready to go out, unpacked a little more, and around 7 or 8 Brandi showed up, told me she'd been to the party across the hall and announced that she'd had 2 shots neener neener neener. She basically taunted me into out-drinking her. So, I went across the hall, and took 3 shots of what I think was peach Schnapps and neener neener neenerd Brandi right back. After those shots however we both reconsidered having more...neither of us were drinkers and that was more than we could handle. We were promptly giggly for several hours on Shannon's floor. I remember much singing involved, and eventually card playing. While sitting on Shannon's floor I finally met Dawn. At some point she showed up, not having read my previous post-it and we met by happenstance. I remember there were instant hugs and we were fast friends. That first night was a doozy, but I believe I met both Dawn and Andy that first day. Andy came by our room and bummed a smoke off of Dawn. He then stayed for hours just talking to us about music. It would be the first of many many long and amazing conversations between the three of us. And boy were those conversations doozies. We covered some amazing topics and realms, but it was always fun.
Among my memories of Dawn I always think of the first snow. We went to school at NAU in Flagstaff AZ and I think that year it was in October when it first snowed. Dawn had a 3 CD disc changing CD player. She would put CDs on loop for the evening and that's what we'd sleep to. The morning it snowed I awoke to Simon and Garfunkle's The Boxer playing. I made us hot cider in the microwave and we stared out our 3rd floor dorm room and watched our fellow students take each other out with snowballs and make dirty snowmen. Our friends Mike and Marc made a snowman with a giant schlong outside the window of their friends Dre and Scott so that when Dre and Scott woke up and opened their window BAM! there was an obscene snowman. It was a great morning, filled with a lot of fun and laughter. Most of the students there were from warmer climates and the snow was fun for most of us.
I include the other songs here because they remind me of Dawn and fun times we had.
While Dawn and I may not have been the world's best roommates, we had some fun times. I wish her only the best throughout her life and hope she finds happiness and joy in her life. I'm glad I have the opportunity to still be her friend today and share such fun times with her.
For Dawn:
Phunk Junkeez
Violent Femmes
Green Day