Miss Shasta

I honestly believe that surrounding yourself with good people will promote goodness in yourself. This is, of course, why I married Brandon. [not the only reason, of course! haha] He is truly the best person I've ever known. I also have a few friends that are just good people. These are the people I want to always have relationships with.

My attraction to "good" people hasn't always been active. I actually prided myself a long time ago in dating bad boys or having friends of questionable motive so to make myself look better. [what the hell, right?] When I look back on those years, I realize that I had no idea who I was. I used to always joke about people who say they're "finding" themselves, but there is definitely a time in every person's life that they can look back and say "wow, I really didn't know who I was back then." I don't believe there is a magical age in which this happens, I just believe that once you get through some shit, you know ... stuff that makes you make decisions based solely on what you know and how you feel, then you're a little closer to knowing who you truly are.

With most of my friends, I can remember a time when they were lost, or confused or rampantly stupid ... you know, "finding" themselves. But there are a few friends that have just always been exactly who they are meant to be. When you know who you are at an early age, you tend to be able to do great things in the world. There is no break-out phase or lashing-out phase. I have at least one such friend and her name is Shasta.

In the few short years that I got to spend with Shasta at Centenary, she gave me countless one-liners [anyone ever heard me say "I'm sweatin' like a whore in church!"? ... yep, Shasta] and mini life lessons that I of course didn't realize then. I guess that I can tell the difference in a friend of convenience and a truly dear friend by how often I think about that person now, at nearly 28 after not seeing them for years. I can't remember my suite-mates or even most of my sorority sister's last names, but I remember nearly everything about Shasta and I think about her more than any other person from that time in my life.

After college, Shasta decided to help people [see? not like me at all ... I love it!] and so she joined the Peace Corps and began teaching abroad. She's been at it for a few years now and I am so proud!! I selfishly want her to move back to east Texas so we can make day-trips to see each other and I can have some of that goodness rub off on me again, but I know that there are kids who need her elsewhere at the moment. She was in South Korea for awhile, now in Honduras and will be moving to Japan [ah!?] sometime next year I believe. Then, like a good Southern woman, she promises her mother [and all of us Shasta groupies] to come home for a bit.

 Yes, she is also beautiful. She's hoggin' all the good human qualities!

She was recently written about and interviewed for TeachingTraveling.com ... please read! I'm so proud to know and love Miss Shasta and I can't wait to see her again!! Also, I sent her a little Zombee, so now there are Zombees loose in Honduras!