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| I first met Mickey when I was in elementary school. We both lived in Weldon Square, and she was good friends with some neighbors a few doors down from my place. Our first encounter, as I recall it, was on a warm day in Stalling Court. Mickey was playing with Wannano and Kikum (if that’s how you spell their names). |
| What the argument was about, I don’t recall. Mickey and I got into a fit of words, and I tossed my blueberry cobbler onto her. How that started a lifelong friendship, I can’t explain. |
| Over the years Mickey and I became friends that spent most of our middle school years practically hand-in-hand. Along with our friend Joe Filio we went on adventures in the woods north and west of our community. In summer months, Mickey and I would go to Joe’s house and wake him up by yelling in his mail slot. |
| Mickey was one of those girls who seemed pretty popular with almost everyone of both sexes and every race. She is the closest definition of a cross-cultural savant that I can think of. Athletic and energetic, with a good sense of humor, she always made for an entertaining time. |
| There’s a bit of a comic in her too. I remember coming to her house one day to find smoke pouring out of her windows. Terrified, I came in to find Mickey grilling in her kitchen—her outdoor grill perched precariously on top of her kitchen stove. I was frantic, but she seemed as if everything was absolutely normal. Later, she just laughed about it. |
| There was another time she offered me some bacon. I asked if it was pork. “No, no,” she said, “it’s turkey.” She knew that I wouldn’t eat pork because of my Judeo-Christian upbringing; she also always found it an amusing challenge to sneak pork into my diet. |
| I ate some of the sausage. It wasn’t long before I realized what the smirk on her face meant. I spat the meat out, and she couldn’t contain her laughter. She always seemed exasperated with my refusal to eat pork. At the time, I was mad. |
| Mickey’s all grown up now. She lives in New York City pursuing a career in modeling. As you can see from the images to the right, she’s got some potential there. When she visits Columbus next, we will do some shoots to post more pictures of her. (These pictures were provided by Mickey.) |
| To contact Mickey, write to mykeyla@aol.com. |
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