I met Kitty in March of 1995, at a youth group for unique and fun people...our little joke. I had a minor crush on the girl she was dating and an even bigger one on our counselor. She and I didn't hit it off as friends right off the bat, ironically enough because we both had the hots for each other at the time...though nothing ever came of that. It took us almost a year to become fast friends but once we were, we were hard to split up. We would take my convertible for long distance rides up into the mountains and then go create a discombobulation at our favorite local coffee shop on the corner of Boulder Street and Tejon in downtown Colorado Springs.
Kitty once drove around Manitou Springs with me for hours trying to help me find my teenage crushs' house so that I could leave roses for Valentine's from a secret admirer. Though my crush already knew I dug her. Lol. In hindsight that was pretty creepy. Lol...but I was trying to be romantic... in some awkward shy teenage way...Ha ha... Kitty got a kick over giving me a hard time concerning this particular matter...FOR YEARS. Lol
Kitty and I became roommates for about two years and that was about as awkward as it could get for us. I was dating someone, she was too and we only had one bed in the house. She and I used to put music on and dance around late at night in barely there shorts and tank tops and just try to see what sort of trouble we could get into around downtown. My apartment at the time was barely a one-room apartment and in keeping with tradition, we thought it would be a good idea to adopt a dog together one day. We went to the local pound and got a huge bridle mutt mix. We named him Titan. We were horrible pet parents at the time and one day we took him with us to get tattoos and he ate the roof of my Miata. Outside of frustrated because it was winter, we actually laughed the roof incident off and went for a drive to Denver to do Rocky Horror Picture show together. We figured since the roof was basically gone, we might as well put the top down and enjoy the snowy drive to Denver in proper Colorado style. Eventually, we have Titan to the neighbors next door and down the alley from us.
Kitty was never short on laughter and bad ideas that made the world a little better for those around her. I know I never had time with her where we weren't smiling and laughing. The girl was funny!
*(I will have to come back for fillers here...I keep losing track and start crying...) sorry if this jumps around a bit, it's a work in progress.*
I found out a few days ago that she passed away. I still don't think it has hit full force because how can one reconcile the death of one of the greatest friends you ever had?
I was on a cruise ship when I got the news, and now I am on an airplane about to fly into Denver, where just a week ago Kitty was still with us, fighting the good fight and being her witty self. Kitty told me once when we were much younger and full of vibrancy that she didn't think she was long for this world, so she planned to live it up, every minute, and boy did she. She could be a bit of a wild card and neither of us was always easy to be around but I wouldn't have traded this friendship for anything. She touched so many lives and brought so much excitement, charm, and rambunctiousness to those lives that the loss of her seems too overwhelming. How could she really be gone, and so soon?
I honestly started to believe Kitty was invincible, like a superhero. She was my superhero more than once. Honestly, sitting here trying to write this minor eulogy about someone I loved so dearly is extremely hard, because how can one touch on all the moments shared...all the secrets are spoken and magic that was there in our friendship. How can you really put to simple words the magnitude of what one person did in a lifetime, and how much they meant to all those around them, how much she meant to me. How do you even begin? There are those that knew her better than I, and some who just barely got a glimpse of her wonder, but there was something incredible about Kitty, something infectious that pulled people to her like a magnet. She had the voice of an angel and I often mixed up if Kitty was singing or Stevie Nicks was...her talents were insane, she had a knack for comedy and music, a knack for knowing people's drinks and how to make them perfectly. She was one hell of a stylist too...she was both my redeemer and my bringer of bad habits ... and again, I wouldn't trade a single moment of the times we had together.
I can't begin to know the pain her family feels, and I hope that where ever
Kitty is, she knows how much all of us will miss her and how loved she really was.
Thank you Mel, for the life shared girl, and for all the memories. Xoxoxo.
