By Jessica Spadaccino
News Editor
Sometimes friends come in strange packages, but end up being the best gifts of all.
“The Declaration of Independence!” I screamed.
“How the hell did you get that with only D’s and T’s on the board!?” She hollered back.
My nights with my best friend don’t involve binge drinking or getting high. I know that may be a shock to some of you out there, especially when you find out I am a college student, but there is something about the simplicity of watching “Wheel of Fortune” with her that makes our friendship so beautifully complex.
I never fit in, and I had no desire to. The local Catholic high school that I attended didn’t exactly breed the type of friend one would hope to gain. My first two years of high school consisted of me changing friends like I changed underwear. Every morning I had a new friend, and by the end of those six scrutinizing hours of school, I would lose everything or everyone I had gained. I really believed I wasn’t meant to have friends. Working at a party store was the only thing I had to look forward to, and sometimes I didn’t even want to suffer through that. I took everything for granted; until I met her.
“Doo-doo doo-doo clap your hands!”
I heard her singing from one of the aisles in the store.
“Annette? Don’t tell me you actually like this music…”
“It takes an interesting character to enjoy funky disco beats mixed with lyrics like “doo-doo,” she continued without answering my question, dancing around the store and putting product out on the shelves.
Of course, being a 16-year-old high school girl at the time, I couldn’t understand what she was doing. Liking something other people didn’t was unheard of in high school, and that’s when I realized Annette wasn’t like most people. She could make a boring day at work one of the most memorable days of her life, and mine.
When I met Annette Papastavros four years ago, she was a 41-year-old ball of fire. Beautiful, fierce, confident; everything I wasn’t. Her sense of humor and unique dance moves made me gravitate toward her, but her strength and wisdom bound me to her.
My Netty with her famous smile.
You would never guess that Annette is a divorced mother of three who works 72 hours a week to support her family. You would also never know that her house was recently foreclosed on, and to top it all off a few months ago she found a cancerous lump on her breast.
Just watching Annette go through what she has gone through in the past year has drained me, but not her. Through the court dates, and the two jobs, and the chemo treatments, Annette never forgot to smile.
Think about your best friend, and the intense fear of losing him or her. Since I met Annette, I couldn’t imagine life without her. She is the one who made me see that life is a beautiful thing that I shouldn’t let pass me by.
Finding out that Annette could possibly have terminal cancer made me think about how quickly life can end, but thank God that wasn’t the case for my Netty.
The surgery was a success. The lump was removed, and Annette has been getting treatments and tests monthly to make sure that it never comes back.
It takes an angel, or a mentally insane person, to be able to go through all that, and still be able to flash me a smile, some words of wisdom, and still have time left over to feed the neighborhood stray cats.
Finding out Annette was going to be okay was the happiest day of my life, but that didn’t keep me from my newly found feelings about life.
When people ask me what I aspire to be, my answer is Annette. She has taught me everything from how to bake a chocolate cake, to the secret of beating cancer. I have never met a man or a woman with the ambition or strength that she has.
I hope that all of you, including myself, can one day live life the way Annette does; “Carpe Diem,” “Seize the day.” Because tomorrow might not be there for you. Look at the life you have lead so far and answer this question; if you are faced with the end of your life tomorrow, will you be satisfied with the way you lived it today?
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