are you ready?

diane
Originally uploaded by kristalynn.

i'm usually a little too quick to judge whether or not i like someone. and this usually lands me in trouble with the boyfriend-du-jour.

"wasn't that evening of bowling fun?"

"yeah, i guess. i don't think i like that julie-person though."

"why not?"

"she said she liked that movie with michelle pfeiffer and the inner city kids. what's up with that?"

but, by the same token, as quickly as i am able to dismiss, i am also able to declare my fondness.

"what was it about tara jo-jo that you liked?"

"she drank all my tequila. didn't you see that?"

i got an email this morning from an ex-boyfriend. he and i met when we were 18 and living in rome. he was my first love. we stayed together until we were 23. he informed me of some bad news: "Our dear Didi has left this sometimes very nasty world. She was suffering from cancer for quite a long time now. I know you and her got along pretty well..."

he was right. i liked diane the instant i met her. my boyfriend's parents were living in senegal. we joined them during the summers - i decided to volunteer and set up a school for girls. diane was also living there for an indeterminate amount of time, escaping a faltering marriage.

and the reason i liked diane? she was ALWAYS game. you could propose anything and she was up for it. it didn't matter who proposed it or what it was, her answer was always, "i'm ready!"

she could be asleep in bed when i'd crack open her door.

"hey diane - i'm heading off to the beach. d'ya wanna join?"

"j'suis prête!" she'd reply, bolting up in bed. she slipped right into her sandals and grabbed a towel. within 45 seconds, she'd have the car backed out of the driveway, honking at me.

"hey diane, i gotta just hop across the border to the gambia for a visa run. do you wanna...?"

"j'suis prête!" she said as she flapped her passport in my face.

she was always the first one in the pool, the first one to lose her top in the pool, the first one to uncork the bottle of wine, the first one to break the ice, the first one to laugh at herself, the first one on the dance floor, the first one awake, the last one to bed.

she taught me everything i know about spontaneity.