I mentioned before that my college roommate was slowly slipping from this world and as I talked to my friends and coworkers about it, I found myself prefacing it by saying, well, we really weren't that close. But as I pulled out scrapbooks and photo albums I realized that she played a pretty major role in my college years.
Standing in my dorm room freshman year getting dolled up for a stroll through the Grove, I heard Mary Gardiner's voice outside the door. Mary Gardiner and I had met on several occasions in high school, but were from two different towns and only had a few mutual friends. I stuck my head out of the door and asked, "Mary Gardiner? Is that you?" She turned around and in her very normal way, she began to fawn all over me as if we had never been anything but besties. She made mention of getting a home the following year, I agreed and thought it would never pan out. Sure enough around Christmas she came to the room, picked me up, and toured me through the unfinished condo that her mom had bought for the three of us.
Mary Gardiner and I lived together for three years. The third bedroom was occupied by several different people. Leah lived with us sophomore year, Leslie lived with us junior year, and Roxie moved in second semester of junior year and stayed through senior year.
I use the term roommate loosely as Mary Gardiner and I didn't spend one entire semester together. She was back and forth between Tupelo and Oxford, and I worked a lot. But in passing and through messaging we kept in touch.
Looking back not only did Mary Gardiner and her mother provide an awesome place for me to live, they afforded me opportunities I would have otherwise never had. I traveled to New York, Jamaica, Mexico, and Grand Cayman with them. From them I learned a lot about generosity and how they freely gave of their resources. Mary Gardiner inspired in me a love for Broadway musicals, and helped me to understand and want to know more about the Episcopal church.
While monetarily I would never be able to be as generous as the Tims were to me, I hope I gave back in other ways. I enjoyed being able to be at their major family events. I held MG's hand as the only non family member as her dad married her step mom. I held her hand as they planted a rose in honor of her Grandmother's scholarship ceremony.
But what I realized over the last week as I visited her bedside in the critical care unit, and relived our college years, is that while Mary Gardiner and I grew apart after college, she was responsible for bringing the most important people into my life. She was the one who introduced me to Roxie, at the Mark apartments one spring afternoon. Roxie was my match maker with Cullen. Without that introduction there would be no Jett.
So after the family had been told there was no hope, and the last rites had been read and family members had trickled in and out, I was able to thank her for our good times. I was able to tell her how I had already told Jett so much about her. I was able to stroke her hand and tell her I would see her really soon, and after holding up pictures from college that I described in detail to her and reminisced about our fun trips, I kissed her forehead and said my goodbyes.
M.G. passed away yesterday afternoon. I have no doubt my theatre loving friend in only a few short moments on the other side had assembled a star studded cast and was beginning her next production.
