Melisse Buland was absolutely the coolest girl I have ever been blessed
enough to know.
Her mom called us Siamese twins; she called us partners in crime. I think the
best and most accurate description might actually be ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ but I
won’t speculate on which of us held each title. If you knew Melisse, you know
knew that she was incredibly intelligent. You knew that she was witty with just
a hint of sarcasm and an amazing athlete. If you knew my best friend Melisse you
knew that she was easy to talk to, kind to everyone, and fiercely voted to her
friends. You knew that Melisse was always the first one to laugh, especially
when at herself, and that her laugh was very distinctive—but the good kind—that
every time I hear in my heart I, too, will laugh because it was just that
contagious. If you knew my best friend Melisse you would know that you could
always find her wearing a t-shirt, tennis shoes, and a sling back Adidas
backpack. You would know that she was a tom boy, only allowing me to put makeup
on her for the most special of occasions, but was never, never without her
chapstick.
What I will remember and miss about my best friend are the dinners after soccer games when we would combine leftovers from everyone’s plates in the most disgusting concoctions just to see which one of us would then be willing to eat the most. I’ll remember taking the foil from our ‘Rollos’ candy wrappers and making “grills” for our teeth. I’ll remember how we would steal all the chocolate from Coach Korompai’s candy dish, just to get under his skin, and then benevolently distribute it to all of our teammates. I’ll remember the time she got hives before one of our calculus tests and was so mad at me because all I could do was laugh. I will remember how Melisse spent so much time with my family that she called my Mom ‘Mom’ and my Dad ‘Papa Glenn,’ and even had her own Homer Simpson house shoes and toothbrush at my house.
When I think of Melisse I will remember early morning wake-up calls, always ensuring that each other was up and at ‘em for 7 AM cross country workouts. I’ll remember afternoons spent driving on country roads, taking pictures of anything of interest to us, such as the scary old house we fittingly deemed ‘Boo Radley’s’ after reading To Kill a Mockingbird in Mrs. Post’s class. I’ll remember long, hot summers spent life guarding together, which were no doubt the best summers of my life. And I’ll remember countless nights spent lying beside each other in bed, talking about things we would never dare tell anyone else.
These are just a few of the memories that barely skim the surface of what I have with Melisse. I hope each and every one of you have thousands more of your own to add to these. I hope that each of you will take those wonderful qualities of Melisse’s that you loved and admired and make them your own so that she can forever live on in each of us.
Now Melisse, I know you’re up in Heaven listening to all these nice things I’m saying about you, and I don’t want you to go getting a big head now. I also know that neither one of us were ever in to all that girly, sentimental junk but I wanted to tell you that I loved you from the bottom of my heart and am so very lucky that you loved me too.
I was driving on my way back here and I noticed a big flock of birds a bit ahead of me on the horizon. I was watching them as they flew together in sync and was thinking how cool it was. Then, they all suddenly turned, switching direction together in unison. When this happened, it was almost as if for a split second they completely disappeared. I’m sort of thinking that maybe that’s how Melisse is for me now. I may not be able to see you, but I know without a doubt you’re there.