“Who you are moment to moment is just a story.”
I haven’t always been a writer, but I’ve always been a story-holic. At a very young age I taught myself how to read—through the helpful medium of Sesame Street—and began a lifelong love affair. (This sounds a little creepy, considering my age at that time, but let’s overlook that, shall we?) The older I get, the more my passion for stories centers not only on plot and language, but on characters.
Bad plots can kill a story. Awkward language is agonizing. But if the characters are bad, the story has no heart.
I fall in love with characters.
If you’re anything like me, then, you’ll want to know a thing or two about the people you’ll be hearing about in this blog. The fictional ones I’ll introduce you to later; but the main characters of my life are also important and beloved, and I can’t stand for you to see them only as letters on a page. So, without further delay, my most precious co-patriots*:
Rochelle: My older sister. My confidant, my hero. Painfully brilliant and extremely absent-minded about the lesser concerns of our physical world, such as putting away the peanut butter. Tall, honey-haired and beautiful—and frustratingly precise about everything. But she’s kindness itself.
Daddyman: My dad, of the unconventional nickname. (Don’t ask me about it, it was Rochelle’s creation. I just adopted it.) A mind as sharp as knives—no movie, book, or argument is safe from his perusal of its inconsistencies. Endlessly hilarious, and the biggest softie of us all.
Mom: How does one sum up a mother? I adore her, she maddens me, she’s my advocate and my friend. Jack-of-all-trades and master of most of them. She battles damage from Lyme disease every day of her life with more patience and perspective than I may ever have.
Kat: Quirkiness itself. My best friend other than Rochelle. A ridiculously bright biology major/philosophy minor, who loves nothing better than stating outrageous and unsubstantiated beliefs and waiting to see if anyone will notice. One of the most charming people I know. Has no need for fuss, feathers or strangers, but she’s endlessly sweet once she trusts you.
Mary: Blond haired, blue eyed and an unrelenting Reformist Christian. Resists change and other philosophies with every fiber of her being; only a mandate will get her in dress, and nothing in the world will make her consider dating at this point in her life. But no sword is single edged, and while her rigidity can be frustrating, her loyalty to you runs just as deep.
Raquel: Stressball English major—though, at this school, no English major isn’t. Some days she’ll take it out on you, but she’ll dissolve in laughter at your slightest jokes. No one is more fun to share girlish secrets and dreams with.
Sandy: Impossibly fun to tease. Wears baggy tees, Josefina braids, and sparkly earrings. Huge heart, temptingly gullible, a gooey romantic, and the only one of us with a boyfriend. Everyone loves Sandy.
Star: My roommate—a freshman, like me. Very well-meaning and conscientious; drives me crazy by talking loudly when I’m trying to relax, but always manages to remind me why I like her. We weren’t the greatest match in the world, but you know what? We’re working it out.
Yun: Cute, little, and calm; Yun hails from far off lands and is delighted by each new American thing she discovers. Unlike the majority of the college, she’s not Christian, and she says so without compunction.
Let the stories begin!
*Names changed
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