This is my old friend Jennifer. We go about 10 years back, when I had first moved to South Carolina from Connecticut. The rest of the Kubala family has a special section in my site because they've always made me feel like family.

The first time I met Jenn was the day after I moved to North Charleston. I was about 10 years old and Jennifer was around 8 and her brother Jay Jay (John Joseph) was 3. I had just stepped outside into the front yard and I heard "Hey, girl! Hey, girl!" I looked around for the voice and saw in the upstairs window of the house across from mine two little faces peering out at me. It was Jay who called out to me and then said something I couldn't understand. I asked Jennifer what he said and she told me that he asked if I wanted to come inside and play (or something like that). And we've been friends since.

Jenn and I have shared so many memories and done so many things together over the years it's hard to know where to begin. Like I said earlier I've always felt like part of her family and I've always regarded her as a sister. I even shared the same bed with her for 5 months, when I moved into her house during the 9th grade. My family got transferred to California halfway thru the school year and Jenn's parents were very cool and let me live with them until school got out. Before I moved in I thought me and Jenn would never fight and always agree on everything. Not so. We argued over the stupidest things and there were days that she really got on my nerves. And I can only imagine how much I annoyed the crap out of her, as we all know how I can get (it's okay to agree with that; I admit it). But now that I look back, six years later, I think that those 5 months were among the happiest times of my life.

Jennifer has always been a cool chick. She was, and still is, exceptionally bright and very athletic. I remember her practicing constantly for cheerleading tryouts and she developed muscles rather quickly. I remember thinking "Holy crap!" as Jenn would jump up and do splits (called Russians). I recall that she had to choose a song for tryouts and of all the songs to dance to she chose wish by nine inch nails. Having been a fan of nin and familiar with the music, I thought it was a strange selection to groove to in front of a bunch of preppy preteens. I had to edit out all the cuss words before she submitted the song to the coach. Unfortunately, I moved away before I was able to see Jennifer cheer or compete.

I saw Jennifer for the first time in six years back in March 200, under tragic circumstances. She's now a beautiful 20-year-old woman, not the skinny girl I saw last. Jenn and her wonderful fiance, Steven, have a gorgeous daughter together named Haley. Mama's going to have to beat the boys back with a stick when Haley gets older! Lately, Jennifer has been working towards her nursing degree and she is almost finished with her program. She and Steven are planning to be married June '02 and she has asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, something I consider to be a great honor.