8: "The Bethany"

There are people you meet once and forget about.
There are people you run into here and there and chat with.
There are people you call your friends.
And then there are people like Bethany.

My number 8 college memory is the story of how I met Bethany Nagle.

Bethany and I actually had a class together a couple years ago: Italian.  But our class was very segregated in where people sat and who they sat with.  The stoners and slackers sat on one side, the quiet kids sat on the other side, the teacher's pets sat up front and the goofballs sat in the back.

I was a goofball, and Bethany was quiet.  So I was in the back and she was on the side. And we never talked to each other, except maybe once or twice out of the blue.

Unknown to me, Bethany was friends with my friend, Loui, at the time, and mentioned to Loui a few times how I was in her class.  One day, Loui told me this, and said that Bethany thought I was funny.  Her follow up was then, "I don't know how anybody could think you're funny, Zach."

One day, Loui came over to watch a movie and brought Bethany.  I had other friends over too, though, and since Loui rented the worst movie ever made, I barely said a word to Bethany as I was in another room most of the time.  

Somehow, the two of us became really close friends.  The story of how we met isn't all that exciting, I know, but it ranks high because it was sort of a chance thing that ended up making a huge impact on my life the past couple years.  Bethany was there for me when I really needed a friend.  She somehow put up with a lot of crap I threw her way but never complained.

Bethany is, in short, one of the kindest, most caring individuals I have ever known.  No friend has ever cared for another friend the way she cares about me, and I'm incredibly thankful that I know her.  Even though I've warned her that I'm going to fall off the face of the Earth for awhile and not speak to her for a long time, she knows that when I come back and am famous and rich that she'll be on the next flight to my mansion to celebrate with me.