The other day I booked my flight out to see Priscilla. I spent almost 400 dollars on a plane ticket to New Mexico (who goes to NM?) for one night (yes, one night. I couldn't get work off) to see one of my best friends. If you don't know Priscilla, well then I just have to say I feel sorry for you. You are missing out on knowing one of the most amazing and interesting people of all time.
Priscilla moved here from Kenya when she was a toddler. She was born with 6 fingers on each hand. She has two older brothers (Paul and PJ) and a younger sister (Pauline - but I'll always call her squirrel). Her parents, Ruth and Alfred, have met me over 100 times, and they still introduce themselves to me every time as if I'm new. I guess all us white people DO look alike.... Now that you have a little bit of a background on her, we can start identifying why she is the coolest person alive.
I met Priscilla in 7th grade. She transferred to my middle school and immediately fit right in. We were close friends from the get-go. Priscilla is one of those people who can make friends with anybody (I'm not exaggerating either - I'm pretty sure if you asked any of the 508 people who I graduated high school with, I bet all of them would say they partied with her, hung out with her, went on a date with her, or wanted to do any of the above). Our school administration hated her because she was such a free spirit. She once threw a party on a Tuesday night at her house just because she was bored.
I've mentioned my best friends in high school before (Nils is probably crying to himself that I wrote about Priscilla today, and not him). I like to think that of all of Priscilla's 1000s of friends (again, not an exaggeration) I was/am one of her best. She certainly is one of mine. I was so excited to find out that she was going to attend college at the University of Hartford, because I'm at Trinity and we would only be 10 minutes away. After freshman year, Priscilla pulled a stunt that few other people could handle or risk. She transferred to the University of New Mexico and moved out there. I've seen Priscilla probably only 2 or 3 times over the last three years, but we text very regularly.
I wish my writing could do any sort of justice to how awesome Priscilla is. Her favorite game in high school was called 'Hey Mr.', where she stood outside a liquor store and tried to get creepy older guys to buy her booze. She legitimately had a sick obsession with our 11th grade English teacher - she somehow found his address and tried to get me to drive with her to his house one night just to say hi. She would quote Pootie Tang as if it was some Oscar-nominated, critically acclaimed film. She used to openly hit on a variety of male teachers that we had, making them so uncomfortable that we couldn't do anything but laugh. She rented a bar out for her 18th birthday and held a toga party. I'm pretty sure that there were well over 500 people there at various points.
Not everybody in the world will have the pleasure of meeting Priscilla. That's a real shame. She cares about everyone, and can make anybody laugh (except Mr. Albright, he hated her). All I know, is that in a month when I fly out to Albuquerque (no idea if I spelled that correctly), it's going to be a long awaited reunion, and I couldn't be more excited.
I am an Uber driver and had the distinct pleasure of picking up Priscilla Ouma tonight here in Albuquerque along with another friend of hers, also named Priscilla. She immediately made me feel welcome into her "circle" of fun for the evening. I thoroughly enjoyed singing with them at the top of our lungs as we drove down Central (Route 66). She really is a free spirit who doesn't meet a stranger and that's why I think I connected with her so easily as I'm also someone who never meets a stranger and probably also why I enjoy being an Uber driver so much. I hope to run into her again around town.
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