on roommates. part one.
Sometime around now, Christine and i have passed a significant marker, at least in my life. I have lived with her longer than with any other roommate other than my immediate family.
Now, the previous record of 2 1/2 years was held by Elizabeth Hough, and considering that i have not lived with my family in um...hm...calculating...15 years (really! yikes!), that means i would have had a minimum of...hm...calculating...10 roommates (i work with accountants now. my math is coming back.)
Some of you have heard me lament, however, that i have had "dozens" of roommates. And i bet you've had some inkling of skepticism at that claim (I confess a flair for the dramatic in my stories). However, in the following series of posts, i would like to recall my dozens of roommates. Because i would like to give some honor to my present dear roommate, Christine. But before i do that, i must honor those who came before her, because, well, you made me who i am today! Alright. Here we go...
My first roommate came along when i was 3 and a half. Those six months were very important for many years. Not so important now. Amanda Rosalie shared my tiny little room in the farmhouse on the mountain for 6 years, and then the tiny little room in Waxahachie for 18 months. And most of that time, we shared a bed, too. When i was 12, in 6th grade, i got my very own room. What a luxury!
After 7th grade, i went to summer camp. I had my first stranger-roommate. I don't remember her name any more. Tammy? Theresa? No. I don't remember. What i do remember is that i was MEAN. Really. I was mean to her! I don't know why. I think i didn't respect her for some reason or another. And in the four weeks we lived together, i did some deliberately malicious things to her. Not to worry, i got my pay-back in full and then some the next year. 8th grade was a misery.
Alright. Baby stuff. No more camps in High School. (right? can't remember any)
College.
The University of Texas. 40 acres of getting-lostness. And i ended up with the wonderful Glynis Laing as a roommate. She really is wonderful. I've entirely lost touch with her, and that is to my loss. She was a complete stranger the day we moved in, and within 24 hours, we were friends. She set the stage for me feeling hopeful every time i've moved in with a stranger (and it's happened alot! just wait!)
My sophomore year, a high school friend was coming to UT, so i ditched Glynis for Sonia Colonna. We only had a semester together before i went off to North Carolina for a semester, where my roommate was Jennifer Something. (I also met Erica Oppegard there, who is still a dear and wonderful friend who lives now in Canada!)
I came back to Sonia the next year, but my senior year she had ditched me, and i ended up with a hall mate from freshman year, with the most incredible name ever: Lichen Elizabeth Wood Grewer. Can you believe it?
Oh-- but the summer before that, i lived with my freshman hallmate and otherwise good friend Kristina Y Foley.
Now, I've just named 5 college roommates. What i haven't yet mentioned is that for 2 1/2 years of that time, I was living in two residential co-ops. One of which had 15 other residents, and the other of which had 18. Co-op living is not the kind where you can just ignore everyone else. You share chores. You have house meetings. One of those years, i was House Manager, and responsible for dealing with resolving conflicts, among other things. So accounting for the fact that not everyone changed every semester, and low-balling it, i'd say i shared a house, during those 5 semesters with...calculating...ok, let's really low-ball it and say 50. 50 different housemates over 2 1/2 years.
Some wonderful things about living in the co-ops:
Many of the women were internationals.
I learned how to cook with onions and garlic
I learned how to go grocery shopping and love it
I learned TONS of flexibility and compassion for people who are Not Like Me.
Wa-hoo! 57 Roommates/Housemates by the age of 22!
Stay tuned for the next installment: The InterVarsity Years...
Now, the previous record of 2 1/2 years was held by Elizabeth Hough, and considering that i have not lived with my family in um...hm...calculating...15 years (really! yikes!), that means i would have had a minimum of...hm...calculating...10 roommates (i work with accountants now. my math is coming back.)
Some of you have heard me lament, however, that i have had "dozens" of roommates. And i bet you've had some inkling of skepticism at that claim (I confess a flair for the dramatic in my stories). However, in the following series of posts, i would like to recall my dozens of roommates. Because i would like to give some honor to my present dear roommate, Christine. But before i do that, i must honor those who came before her, because, well, you made me who i am today! Alright. Here we go...
My first roommate came along when i was 3 and a half. Those six months were very important for many years. Not so important now. Amanda Rosalie shared my tiny little room in the farmhouse on the mountain for 6 years, and then the tiny little room in Waxahachie for 18 months. And most of that time, we shared a bed, too. When i was 12, in 6th grade, i got my very own room. What a luxury!
After 7th grade, i went to summer camp. I had my first stranger-roommate. I don't remember her name any more. Tammy? Theresa? No. I don't remember. What i do remember is that i was MEAN. Really. I was mean to her! I don't know why. I think i didn't respect her for some reason or another. And in the four weeks we lived together, i did some deliberately malicious things to her. Not to worry, i got my pay-back in full and then some the next year. 8th grade was a misery.
Alright. Baby stuff. No more camps in High School. (right? can't remember any)
College.
The University of Texas. 40 acres of getting-lostness. And i ended up with the wonderful Glynis Laing as a roommate. She really is wonderful. I've entirely lost touch with her, and that is to my loss. She was a complete stranger the day we moved in, and within 24 hours, we were friends. She set the stage for me feeling hopeful every time i've moved in with a stranger (and it's happened alot! just wait!)
My sophomore year, a high school friend was coming to UT, so i ditched Glynis for Sonia Colonna. We only had a semester together before i went off to North Carolina for a semester, where my roommate was Jennifer Something. (I also met Erica Oppegard there, who is still a dear and wonderful friend who lives now in Canada!)
I came back to Sonia the next year, but my senior year she had ditched me, and i ended up with a hall mate from freshman year, with the most incredible name ever: Lichen Elizabeth Wood Grewer. Can you believe it?
Oh-- but the summer before that, i lived with my freshman hallmate and otherwise good friend Kristina Y Foley.
Now, I've just named 5 college roommates. What i haven't yet mentioned is that for 2 1/2 years of that time, I was living in two residential co-ops. One of which had 15 other residents, and the other of which had 18. Co-op living is not the kind where you can just ignore everyone else. You share chores. You have house meetings. One of those years, i was House Manager, and responsible for dealing with resolving conflicts, among other things. So accounting for the fact that not everyone changed every semester, and low-balling it, i'd say i shared a house, during those 5 semesters with...calculating...ok, let's really low-ball it and say 50. 50 different housemates over 2 1/2 years.
Some wonderful things about living in the co-ops:
Many of the women were internationals.
I learned how to cook with onions and garlic
I learned how to go grocery shopping and love it
I learned TONS of flexibility and compassion for people who are Not Like Me.
Wa-hoo! 57 Roommates/Housemates by the age of 22!
Stay tuned for the next installment: The InterVarsity Years...
posted by ceciliabrie at
7:41 PM
3 Comments:
mm, mm, this is fun, brie! i am enjoying the conversational tone, too! it's like we're having a conversation, i can hear your voice in my head.
btw how do you pronounce "Lichen"?
By
Dawn, at 12:21 AM
hmmmm. "I learned TONS of flexibility and compassion for people who are Not Like Me."
I've heard that men are pretty much Not Like Women.
=)
By
Ed, at 12:52 AM
1. Lichen=/Liken/ or, the mossy thing that grows on tree bark
2. I also have heard that men are Not Like Women.
By
ceciliabrie, at 7:18 PM
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