Melissa. Or, as she was known to me long ago - Smelvin. Many people, or rather, I should say, FEW people know just how wonderfully and profoundly an effect Melissa had on me. She probably doesn't even realize it herself. She has always been a muse to me - a kind of guardian angel who watches over my happiness and good times - and furthermore represents those times in a physical, human form. In fact, I credit her for being the one who really helped me to transition from a boy into a man - and I don't mean that in any sexual kind of way.

Smelvin and I shared an intricately woven past. She was part of a group of girls and some guys that my group of guys and some girls used to hang out with in high school. I admit, we were an incestuous lot and at any given time one of us was probably going out with another of us... and then we would switch... ahh, high school... the days of 1 week relationships. The thing is though... I always REALLY liked her, but it never got around to us dating during those high school days. She went out with our buddy Jon for a while which more or less kept her occupied for a bit. Anyways, long lost relationships aside - we were at the very least good friends and many great adventures were shared between us. I remember a couple of days that I was really disappointed that I didn't get to hang out with her, and it was then that I realized just how much she in fact meant to me.

Well... I went off to college and had my freshman year adventures. My second year there, when I was living in Butterfield, Melissa and friends came up to visit. I remember sitting in my car in front of the dorm. Everyone else had run in to get something or someone and it was just Melissa and I in the car. All of a sudden, she turned to me and kissed me. I have to say, it took me by surprise - mostly because there had never really been any discussion about how I liked her, or if that she liked me back. Well... that started a great, but short-ish relationship. It lasted the rest of that semester and through the majority of the school year. Unfortunately, Melissa is a few years behind me and so she was still in Marblehead... in high school. And I was still smitten with the joys and freedom of college... and so it was that I ended up meeting Shannon, and eventually had to be a douche and end it with Melissa. And to be a bigger douche, I did it just a few weeks before I was going to go to her prom. Now, in my defense, I told her because I really couldn't have lived with myself had I tried to lie to her. I felt REALLY bad about it, and still REALLY liked her, but the distance just wasn't working out for me. I will never forget that night though... sitting on the swings in the schoolyard by flapper's house, holding her as I tried to explain why I was being such a major douche. I have only ever broken up with 2 girls, out of my many, many relationships. The rest of the time, I have been a pussy and have let it trail off until they break up with me. But I couldn't do that to her. If it makes any sense... I cared for her too much not to.

But as a testament to her strength and the friendship that would ensue, we still went to the prom together. And what a prom it was!! I had been to about 4 others already and so I had asked her if we could do this one differently. Like, get really dressed up all crazy like. And she agreed. My ensuing outfit has been a point of much jeering throughout my life. My buddy Bill... who helped me get into the animation class that I eventually taught at UMass will STILL break into a fit of laughter and recollect the pictures I showed him years and years ago. See below. And Melissa's grandmother, Noonie, remembered me at Melissa and Mike's wedding as that crazy guy. And I will NEVER forget the day of the prom. We were forced to take buses in - as opposed to limos and such. So we would all convene at the midlle school, load up and go from there. As such, the place was always packed with parents taking pictures and all of the faculty. Marblehead - for those of you who don't know - is a very rich and rather snooty kind of town. You get labelled as an outsider very easily if you diverge even slightly from the norm. Well, let me just tell you how incredible it was to walk through those doors that night, with our less-than-standard outfits and this amazingly beautiful and confident girl by my side... Oh... so sweet... walking into a room full of chattering people... it took them a minute for it all to register, and then I SWEAR to you, it was like that classic record-scratch sound as jaws hit the floor. Silence. Blank, unbelieving stares all around. It was EPIC! Absolutely one of my best moments in life, and it was all made possible, and all that much better by Melissa.

Well... for some time after that all went down, and I was seeing Shannon, we still managed to remain friends. We still had some great times with each other - as Melissa recounted just the other night... Her and Nicole duct-taping my car shut cuz I bunked out early one night... times we got pulled over... all sorts of craziness. I dunno. I think that breaking it off with her will go down in the books as one of my biggest mistakes and only regrets. She was always so good to me and I should have been better to her. But I will tell you this... Still, to this day, and even if we haven't spoken or seen each other for years... it is as if it were just yesterday that we were great friends. I feel nothing but love for her, her amazing sense of humor, her strength and beauty and her commitment to love and friendship. She is a great person and a huge part of my life. And you bet your ass that I live and would die for her, any time, any day.