Aloha, roommate!

This is Katie and Miles, who were my roommates from last July until just a few hours ago. Katie is currently en route to Hawaii, where she will continue working as a vet. After a brief quarantine period, Miles will follow Katie to Hawaii, where I imagine that he will chase parrots and eat out of a coconut.

In the spring of '09, Katie responded to a Craigslist ad about renting a room in my house. She was living in Massachusetts at the time, and we didn't actually meet until she moved in. I wasn't sure how we would get along. She seemed nice enough, but I noticed that she included sporting equipment among the "bare essentials" she was bringing with her to Maryland. At that time, I didn't do anything more athletic than walk my (then) boyfriend's dog. I also spent most of my time either at work or at said boyfriend's house and didn't think I would have any time to bond with a new roommate. I imagined that our few interactions would go something like this:

K: Do you want to come play soccer?
A: No, thanks. Do you want to spend the day on the couch watching "Lost" DVDs?
K: No, thanks.

Katie moved in one night in early July. Just a few days later, my boyfriend came over and abruptly announced that we were through. (And by "abruptly," I mean that he told me he had decided I wasn't right for him just that morning and there was no need to discuss it further.) He packed up the dog and left me to be a complete wreck in front of someone I barely knew. Awkward. Katie, to her credit, was very nice but also seemed to realize that I'm not someone who likes to go to pieces in front of new people and gave me plenty of space.

After a couple weeks of crying, I decided that I needed an outlet for my newly acquired free time and negative energy. So, after years of saying that I should really join the gym in my neighborhood, I joined the gym in my neighborhood. Katie, being the athlete that she is, was super-supportive of this plan. She even went with me to my first-ever spin class and pretended not to notice how much I was struggling.

Thus began 13 months of bonding over athletics, cooking, crazy work schedules, and even crazier relatives. For me, this past year could have been all about stress, loneliness, and depression. Katie really helped me go in a more positive direction. She's a very mellow, positive person, at least in part because she makes getting out and moving every day a priority. She's been an amazingly good influence on me and I'll always be grateful for that. I can honestly say that the time I've had with her was much better spent than it would have been with that boyfriend. Katie is one of the many great people who, whether they realize it or not, will be helping me get across the finish line on October 31st.

So, Aloha Katie and Miles!