El artista picante...

I still remember the day that Mel and her family moved into our neighborhood. I remember spying on them through Nana's big window, as their Mom shuffled them from car to house. Mel was just a baby, her brother was my age and well, her sister wasn't even born yet! 25 years really does pass quickly, or so it feels.
When I look back on all the shenanigans we got ourselves into its really hard not to laugh. And funny enough, a majority of the time we spent together was doing just that, laughing.
Like when a neighbor boy wakes you up asking for your Mom's panty hose so he can play a joke on Mel's older brother. He wanted to attempt to seduce Mel's brother while he slept. I mean, seriously? Calls were made, Mel came running over and the transformation began. So we dressed this boy in my Mom's clothes, a heinous witch wig he found, my sister did his make-up and then Mel gave him pointers on how to wake up her brother. The boy looked like an experiment gone wrong. We all knew he was going to get the wrath because you didn't dare wake up Mel's brother before 11 a.m.
Seriously, what the heck was he thinking??
But nevertheless, we rooted him on from the living room as he tip-toed into Mel's brother's bedroom. Of course the plan failed miserably and he bolted out of the room like he was on fire.
Will I ever forget seeing my childhood best friend/Mel's older brother in a thigh length sweatshirt, standing in his doorway, screaming at all of us?
Ummmm...NOPE...not as long as I live!!
And yeah, Mel's brother was mad but as life happens, the boy got his payback when he failed to realize that the syrup he covered his pancakes in had been infiltrated by a billion ants!!! So like always, Mel’s brother got the last laugh.
Though years have passed, not much has changed. Mel is still open, honest, vibrant, passionate and beautiful. She's pretty much always been this way...I doubt it will ever change.
I am forever grateful for all the laughs we’ve shared through the years, the silly stories that no one can quite re-tell like she can and for her never doubting my creativity, even when she probably should have.